Word-Of-the-Week #794: Attention
October 24, 2019 by Susan Clarke
Attention – careful observing or listening.
Have you noticed lately the number of people that put their full attention on their cell phones? Do you see couples in restaurants playing with their phones instead of talking to each other? Are we turning into a texting, non-verbal society?
This is a follow up to last week’s WOW on communication. Do you know that people who are focused only on themselves, generally have never developed the ability to read others? Good communicators listen 60% to 70% and talk 30% to 40% of the time.
Dr. Lyman Steil says, “Most people listen but they don’t really hear. We need to over compensate and listen more to improve out comprehension.”
Want to create an instant connection with people? All you need to do is let them talk while you listen! And that means to focus, give them your full attention, and become a careful observer.
If you want to be successful you need to really listen to your customers, guests, members, clients (and loved ones) so that you can fulfill their needs. You need to pay attention in order to serve them well, and to handle any problems or challenges that may arise.
And this feedback from longtime friend and subscriber Joe, “Susan: The key is listening.
There have been countless times where I have said something, using the words that would express EXACTLY what I wanted done, and afterward I found that it was not done the way that I wanted it done in the first place.
One of the things that I always do when getting instructions from my wife or anyone for that matter, is to simply make eye contact and listen. When my wife wants to give me directions somewhere, I always tell her to WRITE IT DOWN! That is the best way for me to remember where it is, I am going.
Listening, vocal intonations and eye contact have been lost in our lives due to texting and tweeting. As I have told numerous people over the past few years, most people are not very good writers so to expect them to clearly describe what they want to say in 140 to 200 characters is fruitless. This happens with many of my relatives who just don’t express themselves well in writing. When it is pointed out, their response is to apologize.
The miscommunication due in part to texting and tweeting results in wasted time.
Hopefully people can get back to actually speaking, listening and HEARING what others have to say.”
This week focus on putting more attention on the people around you instead of yourself. How would it feel to spend more time listening and less time speaking? Do you think you have developed the ability to read others? Carefully observing to see if their face, eyes, voice, and body reinforce their words or detract from them?
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