Many professionals are good listeners. Some are not. Just about every professional service provider would do well to hone their listening skills.
Nearly everyone likes a good listener. In the professional services arena, clients want more than listening, they want action, but careful listening is a great start.
Here are a few pointers.
Hearing. If you're in even the slightest doubt, get your hearing checked out. Don't expect to be a great listener unless you can hear well. Beyond the age of forty, most of us have some measure of hearing loss, sufficient to diminish our ability to hear well within normal conversation ranges. So, if you do have hearing loss, either become adept at compensating, or if it's significant loss, get some help from today's great technology.
Mindset. Good listening depends on a mindset of truly wanting to listen to another's story, opinion, or experience.
Many professionals have been too strongly acculturated to spending any silent time preparing the next argument, piece of information, or advice to be superb listeners.
Mood. Patience is integral to good listening. Allow time for the full story to be told. That may mean resisting the temptation to interrupt.
If there isn't time to really listen, consider rescheduling the conversation for a time when there is.
Mirroring and pacing. A good listener will mirror - to a reasonable extent - posture and body language of the storyteller. This will increase personal rapport and comfort in the listening process.
An effective listener will also carefully "pace" a conversation to manage emotion and energy levels.
Probing. Gently asking other questions which probe out more information, signals your understanding, comprehension, and acceptance of the listener's story. This is a technique worth refining.
Support and rapport. Gentle nods indicating that you are listening and focussing, small interjections in agreement (like "yes, I see" and similar) will help you support their storytelling and confirm that you are actively listening.
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