Quotes About Listening

'What can your kids teach you?' Well, I believe something different about kids. We don't own them, they have their own knowledge. From the start you have to make the choice to listen.

I learned by listening to other people sing and doing impressions of them. And there are things no one can ever teach you, like phrasing. By listening to Sinatra, for instance - you felt that everything he sang had happened in his life.

Everybody's a teacher if you listen.

No voice teacher can be all things to all people. You have to gain information from whatever sources you can. You have to listen.

You can do and use the skills that you have. The schools need you. The teachers need you. Students and parents need you. They need your actual person: your physical personhood and your open minds and open ears and boundless compassion, sitting next to them, listening and nodding and asking questions for hours at a time.

We've invested in Newark's children, the schools and teachers, and these are long-term bets that need a number of years to really pan out. We've seen and learned how important it is to listen to the community and really get a sense of what they need and want. And it's a long journey.

Teachers have a million stories, but nobody consults them.

I was always being told off at school. The teachers would say: 'Everyone's talking, but you're the one I can hear.'

Sitting down for dinner not only helps you learn, but also teaches you how to listen - which I feel is the most important skill to have. I remember as a kid going around the table listening to everyone's day. It was hard to have the manners not to interrupt back then.

Before all masters, necessity is the one most listened to, and who teaches the best.

People don't know how to listen, and it's not their fault. In school, we learn how to read, we learn how to write - but nobody teaches you how to listen.

When someone is in crisis, don't start by teaching, leveraging, or explaining. Just be with.

I learned that when something just has to be said to move the discussion along, or broaden it or deepen it, if I can just keep my mouth shut for five minutes a student will say it. So for me a lot of teaching is about keeping my mouth shut.

Within the context of listening and understanding and walking with people together, we discover anew what were the teachings of Jesus, what he presented to us.

I try to come in, try to defend, help on defense, play as hard as possible and do whatever my coach and my teammates tell me and try to listen and get better.

My teammates, my friends, the ones that I shared great times with, faced prejudices that I never did and when they shared their experiences... I did not hear them.

Whenever you speak to be understood, your communications will inevitably have an influence on your problem people. If they become defensive, be willing to temporarily drop what you are saying and totally focus on their reaction to it. Do your best to fully understand by backtracking, clarifying, summarizing, and confirming.

ACTION PLAN 1. Monitor your tone of voice. 2. State your positive intent. 3. Tactfully interrupt interruptions. 4. Tell your truth. 5. Be ready to listen.

The next time a spouse or friend says something in an attacking manner, rather than defend against the attack, blend with the intent by saying, "I appreciate that you care about me, and I want to clear the air between us." There's a real possibility that the person will stop in his or her tracks and calm down and that real communication will ensue.

Blending always precedes redirecting, whether you're listening to understand or speaking to be understood. Only after establishing some rapport with your difficult people through blending will you be able to redirect the interaction and change the trajectory toward a worthwhile outcome.

If you fail to blend with other people's voice volume and speed, you will probably end up talking to yourself or dealing with serious misunderstanding.

For this reason, masterful communicators make it their goal to listen and understand first, before attempting to be heard and understood.

In fact, there can be no doubt that when people have the experience that they've been listened to and understood, they let go of their preoccupation with their own thoughts and feelings. The door to their mind swings open, and that makes it much easier for them to hear you.

Step 2. Backtrack. One form of giving feedback is backtracking, or repeating back some of the actual words that other people are using. This sends a clear signal that you are listening and that you consider what the other people are saying to be important.