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Are you a good listener? – Part 2

Are you a good listener? – Part 2

SEPTEMBER 15, 2013

/ Articles / Are you a good listener? – Part 2

Growing up in a family of talkers, I didn't really know what to do around people who didn't talk or talked slowly. I would get nervous. And when I’m nervous I fill the empty silence with none other than – more words. Talk about destroying good communication, I’m quite the expert. If you too, want to stall, stop or destroy good communication try any of my top ten destroyers.

Click here for “Are you a good listener? Part 1”

The Top Ten Ways to Stall, Stop or Destroy Good Communication

10. Ask questions that require only “Yes” or “No” answers.

9. Answer your own questions. Who needs an answer when you already have it?

8. Ignore the implications of your body language and lack of eye contact and ignore theirs.

7. Plan your responses while the other person is talking.

6. Presume to know what the other person is going to say.

5. Be vigilant to watch for opportunities to launch into autobiographical storytelling.

4. Be self-absorbed in your thoughts and unresolved personal issues.

3. Assume you know the root issues of the other person’s problems and that you have all the right answers.

2. Offer pat and cliché comments that discount, ridicule, and minimize the other person’s problems. If that doesn’t work, just slap on a random verse.

1. Laugh, yawn, answer texts while you say you are listening, and above all else, just keep talking.

Shari Thomas

Shari Thomas

Shari is mom to three birth children as well as many others who have wiled their way into her heart. Although she raised children abroad, wrestled through an intense marriage […]

Shari Thomas's Full Bio
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