Course Outcomes

This listening course will:

  • Provide a clear assessment of participants’ listening strengths and opportunities.
  • Explore seven listening competencies.
  • Offer techniques for improving listening skills.
  • Explain nonverbal cues and how to read body language.

Course Overview

The business world is more crowded and complex than ever, and demand for our attention comes from all directions. Noise can lead to miscommunication, especially when time is limited. Listening Loud and Clear is a workshop devoted exclusively to listening skills. During this program, participants will explore seven listening competencies and how to develop and leverage each for better communication.

Program Objectives

At this program’s conclusion, participants should be able to:

  • Define why listening is important.
  • Describe a listening model.
  • Outline seven listening competencies.
  • Explain the importance of reading body language and what isn’t said during the listening process.
  • Demonstrate techniques for listening better to challenging speakers.
  • Develop an action plan to improve their listening skills.

The following outline highlights some of the course’s key learning points. As part of your training program, we will modify content as needed to meet your business objectives. Upon request, we will provide you with a copy of the participant materials prior to the session(s).

Workshop Outline

Say What?: Understanding the Importance of Listening

The course begins with a round of opening questions and a drawing-challenge activity.  Working in various combinations, participants will identify listening goals, benefits, and barriers. Next, they will create a listening model. Finally, they will participate in a listening challenge and set the stage for the rest of the session.
 

Listening Competencies: Assessing Your Skill

The course continues with a listening self-assessment. Participants will complete a profile that measures listening temperament, the ability to create a climate conducive to listening, skill at showing interest, aptitude at reading a speaker, and three other listening competencies. 
 

Getting It: Skills for Better Listening

This segment takes a deep dive into the seven competencies measured by the listening profile. Through a series of exercises, participants will explore each skill and identify how to leverage those that are strengths and improve those where they have development opportunities.
 

Reading Tone and Body Language: Nonverbal Cues Explained

Words are only part of the message we communicate when we speak. As listeners, we need to be aware of tone, pacing, body language, and other cues that round out a message. In this part of the program, we’ll spend time exploring everything but the words we hear.
 

Challenging Speakers: Listening When It’s Hard

For a variety of reasons, some people are easier to listen to than others. This final portion of the training course focuses on skills for listening when it’s harder than usual. We’ll discuss specific tactics for engaging with people who are difficult to understand, staying focused on those who are discussing something we don’t find particularly interesting. We’ll also examine ideas for communicating with  people who are passionate about a topic about which we have an opposite point of view.
 

At the program’s conclusion, participants will understand the benefits of listening, their listening strengths, their opportunities for improvement, and multiple tactics for enhancing their skills.