Learning to Listen

Several years ago I developed a friendship that resulted in me learning the value of listening. My friend's attentiveness to the detail of a conversation and her ability to synthesize the various elements into astute observations is engaging. I attempt to mimic her skills, but find that I have to be very intentional about this art of listening.

I recently read the following comments about listening by Dan Dick of the General Board of Discipleship and thought them to be important to share.

A critically important work for leaders in local congregations is to learn to listen. There is healing in listening. There is connection and community in listening. And there is learning in listening. We may become most effective as communicators, not by what we say, but by our ability to refrain from speaking. Drawing from a wide variety of sources, consider some of the following instructions for learning to listen:

-Make friends with silence. Spend twenty minutes a day in silent reflection and meditation.
-In conversation, silently count to ten before each response.
-In groups, wait until five other people speak before you do.
-When trying to make a point, ask questions rather than making statements.
-When called on to make a decision, ask for a day to "think about it."
-When calling others to decision, offer a time of silence for reflection before acting.
-Have a conversation with someone, then attempt to capture it on paper, writing the other side of the conversation as close to verbatim as possible.
-Pose questions and make space for hearers to offer their own answers first.