Five Levels of Listening

Which of the listening villains are you? Once you know, you can’t forget it. 86% of people think they are an above-average listener. So rather than thinking about how to listen better, it can be more helpful to notice what bad listening looks like. Mee …

Level Five listening is listening for meaning. It’s the difference between listening to the speaker and listening for the speaker. Recreational listening is listening to the speaker – just the words that they’re saying. But when you’re listening for me …

Listening for the unsaid is Level Four listening. It’s the ultimate ninja move of a Deep Listener and it sounds counterintuitive. It’s moving your orientation away from what’s in it for you, but toward the speaker. Help the speaker understand what they …

Listening for the context is Level Three listening. Context is all about the backstory. It can be the difference between a productive conversation and a frustrating, circular discussion that goes nowhere. Deep Listening is three dimensional: your conte …

Listening to the content is Level Two listening. But it’s more than just the words being said. It’s important to understand that what you hear, see and sense together make up listening for the content. Only 2% of us have been taught how to listen, but …