You Listened. Now, Talk to Me

“Did you even hear what I just said?”

“Are you serious?”

“No, that’s not what I meant.”

“Why would you think that?”

I dove into the reasons that I believe people listen to others on Sunday.

Today, I want to explain some of the ways that I notice people responding and why.

“Not saying anything, says everything” Shane Parrish tweeted on February 26th.

From the book, The Lost Art of Listening by Michael P. Nichols, he explains five general ways that people respond.

These five ways are:

1. Advice

2. Criticism

3. Empathetic that closes conversation

4. Empathetic that opens conversation

5. Talking about yourself

Here is what the author of the book gave as some potential responses to the following statement

“I have had a terrible headache all day”

1. Maybe you should take some aspirin

2. Maybe you shouldn’t drink so much coffee

3. Gee, that’s a shame

4. Gee, that’s a shame, when did it start?