Who doesn't wish they could knock off from work at 3 p.
m.
instead of 6 p.
m.
? It's possible to do.
Just learn more effective communication, and your time and work will fly.
Rule #1.
Find angles or hooks that interest you.
Bad listeners tune out boring or dry subjects, even if they are important for you to hear and understand.
Find an angle that hooks you - ask yourself "What's in this for me?How can I benefit from this?" Rule #2.
Don't be distracted by the speaker's form, instead focus on their content.
If the speaker's delivery is poor, don't let that shut you down - stay focused on his or her content -- that's what you're after.
You're stuck listening to them in any case, and they might have the best content in the world that is just cloaked by their poor preparation or delivery.
Picture a 'diamond in the rough' and give every speaker the benefit of the doubt.
Save your judgment for later! Rule #3.
Hold your fire until the speaker is finished.
If you enter into mental argument and disagreement in your head while the speaker is still talking, you're just going to miss a lot of what he's saying while you are showing off in your head with mental rhetoric and gymnastics.
Rule #4.
Listen for ideas, not facts.
Facts are dime a dozen, and you're not likely to remember them tomorrow anyway.
Also, you can probably look them up on the web in seconds.
But ideas are golden - ideas are the framework and skeleton that hold a thousand facts together.
Rule #5.
Use an appropriate form of note-taking.
Rather than always taking one style of notes (e.
g.
, always super-comprehensive, detailed notes, or always skimpy notes), adjust your note style to the speaker.
If the speaker is logical and well ordered, then your notes can follow a classic outline structure.
But, if the speaker is impressionistic and passionate, you might be best off noting major theme headings with lots of white space, and then filling in details as the speaker jumps around.
Rule #6.
Practice and work at listening.
Try to "crack" a subject even if you can't immediately connect with it.
Work hard at your listening; exhibit genuine, active and attentive body language.
Rule #7.
Resist distractions.
Don't let outside events or noises distract you.
Put the smart phone or Blackberry down, by gosh!You are here for one reason and one reason only - to listen and absorb the key ideas from the speaker.
Rule #8.
Keep your mind open.
Don't let emotional buzz words rile you up.
Don't let the words and concepts hang you up, but try to interpret them in the context of the discussion.
Rule #9.
Be an active listener.
Since your mind and thoughts will proceed much faster than the speaker's message, be an active listener by mentally challenging, anticipating, summarizing and weighing the points and ideas you're hearing.
Listen between the lines by attending to the speaker's tone of voice and body language and even the pacing.
For example, if the speaker pauses and takes a deep breath, that can tell you a lot about how they feel about the next thing they're going to say.
Rule #10.
Exercise your mind.
If the material is heavy and dense, hard-to-understand, don't resist it or tune it out by day dreaming.
Instead, view it as a chance to exercise you mind by challenging it.