\”We are losing our listening. We spend roughly 60% of our communication time listening, but we\’re not very good at it. We retain just 25% of what we hear. Now, not you, not this talk, but that is generally true. Let\’s define listening as \’making meaning from sound.\’ It\’s a mental process, and it\’s a process of extraction.\”
Julian Treasure
\”Five Ways to Listen Better\”
TED talk
What a powerful opportunity we have to really listen to someone. It gives them our full attention and our devotion. In a way, it\’s a potent way to love someone. That person can be your husband, your friend, the doctor, the postmaster, the intern or the CEO at work.
I agree we should be mentally alert and strive to extract as much information as we can. At the same time, a compassionate, sincere listening will do wonders for your speaker\’s soul, and your own. It\’s about honoring one another, which includes their heart, their ideas.
Julian Treasure studies sound, and advises businesses on how best to use it. He is the chair of the Sound Agency. He asks us to pay attention to the sounds that surround us. How do they make us feel: productive, stressed, energized, acquisitive? Treasure is the author of the book Sound Business and keeps a blog by the same name that ruminates on aural matters. In the early 1980s, Treasure was the drummer for the Fall-influenced band Transmitters.
Bio Source: TED.com