Good Listening Skills Lead to Effective Communications

Being a good listener is a skill and takes practice. More accurately it should be called active listening  skills. Listening does not come naturally, particularly in the business setting where there are so many distractions. In meetings we tune people out; in conversations we often are think about what we are going to say, rather than listening to others in the conversation. In a previous blog I spoke about critical thinking. Critical thinking requires openmindedness and you can not be openminded if you do not listen. Active listening is incredibly informative. Customers tell you exactly what they want. Business colleagues offer different points of view. Speakers give you facts you did not know. Open up to what people are saying and also how they are saying it. When thinking about your own communications you want to make sure others listen to you.  Now the tables are turned. With effective communications people want to listen.

Critical Thinking and Effective Communications

Having the skills of critical thinking leads to success in business and impacts the quality of your communications. You engage in business discussions based on reason rather than emotion. There can be a great deal of stress in some business environments. Under pressure it is easy to let emotions overpower reason. With critical thinking you become self aware, you understand your own biases, assumptions and built in prejudices.  These characteristics can bring out emotion. These skills also takes some of the pressure off because it allows you to identify what facts, data, information and opinions are most relevant to the matter at hand. Your are not searching for what to say.

Add in good judgement, open mindedness and discipline, and you have what it takes to be a critical thinker. This has a tremendous impact on the clarity of your communications. So much of business in highly interactive and "of the moment". You have to think on your feet. Critical thinking on your feet gets the point across because you can identify, construct and evaluate your argument. People like to work around critical thinkers because they know they are heard and that what they say will be considered. It also "keeps them on their toes". Critical thinking can build a career and it can grow a company.