The key to good speech is listening. If a person is a good
listener, his response will be very apt. He will be able to
hit the nail on the head and present the most lucid opinions.
We must train ourselves to be good listeners. The key to
good listening is patience and restraining our immediate
reaction. We must absorb the words of the person who is
speaking and try to get its gist. Not only will we be in a
better position to respond but also might gain sound knowledge
and retain it in our minds.
An effective way to be a good listener is to verbally
repeat our own understanding of what someone has said. The
speaker will then have a chance to either ratify our
understanding or amend it. Accuracy can thus be ensured. Once
this is done, we can proceed to reply.
One of the bad habits that plagues us is that we are more
interested in immediately responding to a conversation without
even realizing that we have missed the point. Many a time a
conversation consumes needless time because we do not address
the points already raised and show more zeal in presenting our
own view. Such an attitude not only makes us ineffective
participants of a conversation but also deprives us of
valuable knowledge.
Another bad habit in this regard is that we frequently
interrupt a person’s conversation in eagerness to blurt out
our own view. We must patiently wait for the other person to
finish his conversation and speak only when it is our turn.
A good listener is also a person who hears criticism on him
with full attention. Only then can he really benefit from the
constructive part in it. Needless to say that a good listener
is always liked by people because people want someone to play
this role. Such a person becomes endeared to his brethren and
of course, it is an indispensable quality for people who are
in positions of leadership!
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