1 Jun 2011
Be interested, and stay out of the way
I previously wrote about the power of being genuinely interested in what the speaker is saying. And there is an important follow-on point to this idea: staying out of the speaker’s way.
Something powerful and fantastic happens when a person receives genuine listening. Both the speaker and listener become energized by this phenomenon, and herein lies both the challenge and the opportunity.
The challenge is that for many listeners, the more interested they get in what the speaker is saying, the more they want to ask questions and weigh in. Although for the listener this can be very exciting, for the speaker it can be a drag. Just as they were getting going and developing some great thinking momentum, the listener jumps in and steals the microphone!
Now the opportunity is for the listener to work on channeling their excitement into coming back to the speaker, and being as present and open as possible. By letting their questions and ideas fade away, or at least stay in the background, the listener can continue to attend to the speaker and support their explorations.
