Listening & Interpreting: Key Components of Communication

Whenever we claim to have privileged access to the Truth and whenever we assume that our particular way of being is the best or the “right” or the “true” way of being, our listening capacity is affected. Thus, so too are our relationships and our results.

Listening I would say, is almost more of a vital component to effective communication than talking because listening is to do with how we interpret things.

We tend to listen in such a way to make ourselves, our stories, our narratives and emotions “right.” Does this internal conversation limit you?

Instead of having a “right/wrong” focus in many areas of life, what if we instead tried to use a “works/doesn’t work” or “more useful/less useful” or “powerful/not so powerful” way of interpreting?

The way in which we interpret and take on ideas and information is influenced by 3 interlinked things, which I believe need to be questioned if we are to become effective communicators.

1. Our motive: this includes our life experiences and our beliefs that develop out of those experiences.
2. Our emotional space: these are the range of emotions that fluctuate from moment to moment and how we respond to them.
3. Our physical body: how we show up in the world, our posture, our movement, and the way we represent ourselves physically.

If we are fixed in the way that we listen and interpret according to these 3 criteria, then we limit ourselves in our relationships and in the way that we communicate with one another.

How we listen and interpret, to a greater or lesser extent, affects the results we can achieve.