Charles Obagho   PET PROTECTOR
   There is no doubt that "gift of the gab", or the ability to
speak clearly, is a valuable skill, however it was not speaking skill, but
listening skill that helped me advance as an employee and later as an
employer. I learnt very early in my career that good communication
requires good listening. Listening is a very powerful and underestimated
skill so I spent a lot of time and effort developing good listening
practices.



   Most people are not naturally good listeners, and folk with the
so-called "gift of the gab" tend to be very poor listeners. Many
good talkers think that listening is simply waiting for their turn to
speak. They can allow the smallest things to distract them and I have
found that many are so busy thinking up the next clever thing to say that
often they are not comprehending what is being said to them.



    Very few people are taught listening skills, although one of my
students at the Australian Film Television and Radio School claimed he had
been given listening lessons every time his dad had yelled at him:
"Shut-up and listen!" That is certainly nothing like the
listening lessons I'm talking about.



   I have learnt that everyone knows something I don't know . . . my job
is to listen long enough to find what that information is, and if it is
useful ? use it. I have learnt how to keep an open mind, how to give the
speaker my full attention, how to ask clarifying questions and how to
remember what was said.



    Since the 1950's sociologists have talked about the "generation
gap", the perceived inability for young people to get along with
their parents. If the "generation gap" is true, why then is it
that grandparents and grandchildren seem to get on so well together? Some
cynics suggest that grandparents and grandchildren get on well together
because they share a common enemy, but I believe it's because grandparents
are mostly good listeners. They have time to listen properly to what their
grandchildren are saying, with good eye contact and undivided attention.
Many parents fail in this regard because they spend too much time talking
and not enough time listening.

 
   Here is some good advice that I was given. When you are talking you
learn nothing. When you are listening, the potential for learning is
unlimited. I am very grateful that I received this advice because it is a
great truth. 

   Are you a good listener? If you are, you have a valuable skill. If you
are not a good listener, it is never too late to start.
Dec 3rd 2010 09:08