- Internal listening is where you’re not actually listening at all. You’re silent, and you’re giving the speaker your attention, but you are thinking about an email you need to send or a client you haven’t reached out to in a while or a thousand other things. Everyone has been guilty of this kind of listening at some point, and we need to train ourselves out of it.
- Focused listening is a little better than internal listening, but still not the connection you need to really engage with the person speaking to you. You’re only half listening. You’re getting the broad strokes, but probably not catching all the details.
- 360 listening is what your goal should be. This is where you are really connecting with the person speaking to you. You’re absorbing what this person is sharing with you, and you’re getting more than just the general message – you’re also picking up on nonverbal cues and nuances that you miss with simply focused or internal listening.
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