I was speechless. Untypically so.
Laryngitis left me with no voice. And the timing was horrible as I was in the middle of an important week of meetings with key customers and influencers. Try as I did, my feeble voice couldn’t break through.
With no choice but to shut up, it was time to be schooled in active listening. With no time spent worrying about what to say next, what clever quip to interject, I was able to soak up the conversation of others—to luxuriate in listening.
Too often in business, conversation becomes a race to get all of our points in before someone else can. Trampling over others to make sure our voice is loudest, our words last to be lasting.
Unfortunately, and too often, the art of listening gets lost when you need it most – when faced with bad news or too many distractions. My pet peeve is the lost opportunity of a sales call, mine included!) Maybe you’ve been here too: “We want to understand all about you, but first, a brief introduction about ourselves.” Fifty minutes later they’re still waxing on about their offerings. And then with ten minutes left, they turn to you saying, “But we need to hear from you.” You try to beat the clock, speaking faster than any human can comprehend. Connection lost, opportunities missed.
