Ten Tips to improve listening skills on the telephone
July 2nd, 2008 by Christine Knott1) Prevent yourself from being distracted by colleagues or external noises and concentrate on what your caller is saying.
2) Listen to the emotion in your callers voice, does it match or endorse the words they are using?
3) Ask questions to gain more information on points you need to clarify.
4) You listen more effectively when you’re not talking so refrain from interrupting your caller, let them finish what they are saying, interruptions may break their train of thought.
5) Avoid pre-empting what your caller is going to say, chances are you will be wrong and miss some of the content of their conversation.
6) Summarise and reflect back to check you have heard the key facts and content of the callers conversation correctly. It also lets the caller know you have understood them. Use statements such as “What I’m hearing is…” and “Sounds like you are saying…” are great ways to reflect back and summarise.
7) If you are having difficulty listening make the necessary adjustments. You might say, “I’m sorry I missed that last point. Please repeat that for me.”
Have a pen and paper to hand and get into the habit of making short quick references to any questions you want to ask or points you wish to raise or comment on. When your caller has finished speaking refer back to your notes and take action. If you are thinking of answers and responses whilst the caller is speaking, you are not listening.
9) Avoid stereotyping individuals by making assumptions about how you expect them to act and what you expect them to say. This will bias your listening.
10) Listen for the key words, nouns and verbs – they are the words that deliver the main content of a sentence.
