Gael's Blog

 

I loved this photo the minute I saw it! It is not only bright and fun, it is putting across an important message about listening in a stunningly simple way. The canary in the centre is so absorbed in listening to his companion that he is completely oblivious to the canary on the left who is probably a competitive suitor!

So what has listening got to do with confidence?

My challenge to you this month is to find out the answer to this question yourself! Many people mistakenly think that if you are a confident person you would probably do most of the talking in a conversation. In fact, a characteristic of all the truly self-confident people I know is that they are just as good listeners as that little central canary above appears to be. This is why I am going to suggest that for this month’s Confidence Challenge  you do this following:

1.Concentrate on listening more than you talk whenever you can. First, like our canary, make sure you look as though you want to listen by adopting the right body language. Secondly, encourage the other person to talk more with nods, grunts and enquiring eyes. Thirdly, check out that you have really understood what they have told you by asking them questions such as: “Are you saying that…./  “was it like …?” / “So you felt ….. ?” For the purposes of this challenge, Resist the urge to talk about yourself and your experiences.

2.  Note what you learnt from listening more intently. Think about: What did I learn about the other person or people in general? / What new information did I gain? / What ideas were sparked off in my mind? What did I learn about myself?

Try to do this challenge at least 3 or 4 times each week this month. This will strengthen several   crucial components of your self-confidence. [link]

Please note:

You can now leave a comment for me or other readers in the box below. So you can let us know how you got on with this challenge or leave a comment on any of my other blogs.