This episode delves into the critical role of listening, particularly in the context of debates and the competitive advantage provided to participants.

Sasan Kisravi explains the significance of preparation in debate, especially when preparing both sides of the argument.

When preparing both sides of an argument, you can discover and  anticipate the counterpoints that will help you discover multiple approaches to the same issue.

The concept of "competitive listening" is emphasized, and it is important to understand an opponent's argument and analyze its impact on the judge and audience.

Note-taking is a crucial tool for effective listening, but there is a difference between traditional note-taking and a more strategic approach. The latter involves creating a visual map of arguments, identifying key points, and tracking the flow of the discussion.

This method allows listeners to maintain focus, identify unaddressed points, and ultimately gain a clearer understanding of the debate.

The conversation also touches on the psychological aspects of listening, highlighting the importance of motivation and purpose.

By understanding the nuances of effective listening, individuals can improve their communication skills, build stronger relationships, and achieve greater success at work.

• Listening is a competitive advantage: Effective Listening is crucial for success in debates and workplace communication.
• Preparation is key: Understanding both sides of an argument and anticipating counterpoints is essential for effective listening and responding.
• Note-taking is a strategic tool: Creating visual maps of arguments helps maintain focus, identify key points, and analyze the flow of the discussion.

www.listening.com

Where to start? Start here

How to listen like a High Court Judge with Justice Michael Kirby

Listen like World Memory Champion Dr Boris Konrad

Brooklyn Debate League

01:38:00 - The complete Munk Debate - Mainstream Media featuring Douglas Murray, Matt Taibbi, Malcolm Gladwell, Michelle Goldberg November 30, 2022

00:47:36 The original Phuskin Industries Revisionist History Podcast Episode - Malcolm goes to debate school – complete audio episode April 13, 2023

00:10:10 Douglas Murray on Malcolm Gladwell: "I Still Don't Feel Pity"

The importance of listening at Level II, which is three-dimensional

• hear,
• see,
• and sense 

Noticing nonverbal cues and their congruence with their words is a vital skill toward becoming a deeper listener.

While these cues can be informative, it's crucial to interpret them accurately and consider the context.

During this episode we explore noticing

• the face,
• posture
• and breathing

As we delve into the world of nonverbal cues, we are guided by Susan Constantine, Robin Dreeke, Michael Grinder and Andre Agassi. These four perspectives will create a deeper understanding by noticing, baseline and interpreting a range of non-verbals

Finally, Agassi shares a secret about decoding Boris Becker's non-verbal signals which led to an eight-match winning streak in the 1990s.

 066: Listening to body language with Susan Constantine

077: The secrets of listening like a spy with Robin Dreeke

085: Hidden Secrets of how to Listen for non-verbals with Michael Grinder

Interviewer becomes interviewee - Oscar Trimboli speaks with Kelly Irving to share the story behind Deep Listening.

How did we get here? Oscar shares about his listening through school and early work, how listening helped people understanding others' perspectives. Through his work as an executive coach, Oscar can empower others by letting them feel listened to.

Learn about listening superheroes, challenges Oscar faces with listening, and about his vision for one hundred million listeners around the world.

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Previously we have heard from listening experts around the world: air traffic controllers, high court judges, suicide counsellors, deaf interpreters and so many more.

In this episode you may notice things are a little different.

Beginning with this episode, the Deep Listening Podcast Series is evolving.

The consistent feedback from 50 episodes is that you want to hear more from Oscar about how to join the listening jigsaw puzzle together.

We'll be doing a deep dive on the five levels of listening and joining us will be our new co-host, Nell Norman-Nott.

The focus will be on practical and impactful tips, to help you grow as a listener.

And don't worry, we'll still be doing great interviews unique listening experts including military snipers to talk about focus, body language experts to help you listen to non-verbal language, neuroscientists to help you understand the role of listening and memory.

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Dr Bronwyn King is a radiation oncologist and the founder of Tobacco Free Portfolios. Dr King works in countries all around the world to help financial institutions divest from tobacco companies - saving millions of lives.

Bronwyn has worked to treat hundreds of people with cancer. She shares the pivotal story when she realised her own money was invested in tobacco companies that caused the diseases and were killing her patients. 19,000 people die of tobacco-related diseases daily, and Dr King is bridging the world of health and finance to do something about it. A moment of deep listening triggered this revelation for Bronwyn.

By engaging leaders of funds, banks, insurers and other financial institutions, Dr Bronwyn King advocates for the divestment of tobacco companies. She has had her success through meaningful face-to-face interactions, diving head-first into the language of finance.

Bronwyn's inspiring story shows the power of listening to create a massive impact  - addressing the largest health issue in the world today.

Tune in to Learn

• How listening can help us to break out of silos
• Why the most valuable interactions are after the meeting ends
• How listening brings hope where there was none
• How to remove your money from tobacco investments
• How to make an impact beyond words

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Chris Voss is a global corporate negotiation expert; a former FBI hostage negotiator, CEO of the Black Swan Group and author of the national best-seller: "Never Split The Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It". His company specialises in solving business communication problems, using hostage negotiation solutions.

Chris says the cost of not listening in the corporate world amounts to 70% of opportunities missed.

Chris points out the 'Yes addiction' our society has in its communication, intent on extracting a yes from the other person in the conversation. The single biggest force in decision making is avoiding a loss or rejection, not to accomplish again - simply considering the phrasing of a question can make for more productive conversation.

Chris shares dramatic stories of how listening between the lines saved the day in dangerous negotiations. His bite-sized pieces of wisdom based on years of experience are truly valuable.

Tune in to Learn

• How observational statements get speakers to say more than questions
• How control of conversations can work like judo
• How to summarise another person's perspective

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Corine Jansen is a Listening Practitioner in the Netherlands, who strives to make a real difference in the health care system by listening.

Corine’s method focuses on listening and speaking as a human being, to another human being, disregarding all roles of doctor, patient or nurse. Dealing with the topics and issues usually unaddressed in the health care setting brings healing, by helping people be whole again - more than a set of diagnoses.

Chief Listening Officer since 2010, her focus on listening is being used in six hospitals throughout the Netherlands.

Everyone has a story - practitioners as well as patients, and listening to everyone saves mistakes being made, and money being wasted. Corine shares her own experience with illness and how not being listened to perpetuated her time being unwell. 

Corine has an inspirational commitment to listening and to the value of human centered care. 

• How to clear your mind completely to listen
• How to use silence practically to listen effectively
• How to choose to be present in the moment.

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Hugh Forrest serves as Chief Programming Officer for South by Southwest (SXSW). Held annually in Austin, Texas, this event brings together more than 70,000 industry creatives from across the United States, around the world.

These creatives are inspired by nine days of panels, presentations, brainstorming, networking, deal-making, socializing, creating, innovating, and fun. The worlds of film, gaming, music, comedy, science and technology collide at SXSW. Year on year, the conference consistently draws big names as keynote speakers, and creates hundreds of millions of dollars of economic impact.

Hugh is responsible for listening to the feedback of 50,000 people - the attendees of each year's event - and distilling 5,000 ideas into 10 days of action. SXSW places enormous value on listening to the event attendees, sponsors, staff and the community as a whole. Hugh says without this, you lose your relevancy.

Over the course of six weeks, each year Hugh and his team sift through feedback. It gives a fuller picture of the event, as an organiser there are things that didn't go well that you had no idea about. It can be exhausting, especially when the criticisms are sharp. But it is this which helps you get better.

SXSW has a unique voting system to facilitate interaction with the community, the panel picker ensures that anyone with an internet connection can submit a speaking proposal. It also allows users to voting on topics, giving Hugh an idea of what people are really interested in.

It's not just learning and listening from the audience that is crucial - Hugh and his team initiate a dialogue with those who've provided feedback - replying to emails, having a coffee with their attendees. Some of the best advocates for the conference previously had a complaint, but were addressed by Hugh's team and made positive.

[Tweet "This bottom line, which we're so focused on, is listening to your customers. The more you listen, the more you learn - Hugh Forrest"]

• How to listen well in a dialogue over email
• How Hugh and his team analyse survey responses
• How SXSW 'predict' the future to keep the conference at the cutting edge

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A vote of thanks for helping to spread the word to create 100 million Deep Listeners in the world

We were award one of the Top 20 Apple Podcasts of 2018

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Danielle Ofri, MD, PhD, is a physician at Bellevue Hospital, the oldest public hospital in the USA, and a faculty member of New York University School of Medicine. She writes about medicine and the doctor-patient connection for the New York Times, Slate Magazine, and other publications. Danielle is co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of the Bellevue Literary Review, the first literary journal to arise from a medical setting. She is the author of a collection of books about the world of medicine. Her most recent book is, "What Patients Say, What Doctors Hear."

Danielle highlights just how vital good communication is in the world of medicine. The great majority of malpractice lawsuits stem from miscommunication, far more so than actual errors in clinical practice. This is communication between doctors but importantly, between doctors and their patients.

There is an enormous cost of not listening in medicine. Danielle shares one particular study in which an extra twenty minutes spent between doctor and patient prior to a surgical procedure went on to save those patients from an additional three days in hospital, and reduced the amount of opioid painkillers they required. Leaving aside the health outcomes, the financial impact illustrated by this study is substantial.

Before a patient consultation, Danielle makes sure she has read up on all the relevant notes and charts. In this way she can listen undistracted while they talk, focused and looking at the patient, not looking at charts or a computer screen.

Danielle's research finds that doctors tend to interrupt their patients within eight to ten seconds of their speaking. She also notes that if left uninterrupted, patients will only speak for a minute to ninety seconds - a length of time Danielle thinks we can all aim to listen for!
Dedicate a minute to undistracted, 'full frontal listening', and the speaker will give you the information they want to share and that you need. Danielle thinks of it as an investment in the future relationship.

Danielle shares a story of her father's experience in hospital, and how accompanying him gave Danielle a patient's perspective on things. It's very easy for a doctor who sees many patients every day to not listen deeply in each and every interaction, because there are so many. For the patient, however, this time is precious.

Tune in to Learn

• How to get around technology, to listen undistracted
• Why Danielle asks her patients "how much do you want to know?"
• How listening to a patient reduces anxiety
• How Danielle is teaching new doctors to listen
• About listening to the unsaid for life-threatening issues

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Avraham (Avi) Kluger is a professor of Organisational Behaviour at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and the first born of parents who both survived the Holocaust. His award-winning research into the role of feedback in the workplace piqued his interest in the world of listening. In his journey of discovering listening, Avi underwent a dramatic personal change - realising that being properly listened to gives you the space to become your authentic self.

Avi is currently conducting a meta-analysis that examines over 900 previously observed effects of listening. He is distilling the existing body of research, which often focussed on narrow, disparate fields, to uncover the big picture of the impact of listening.

You don't need to be a psychologist to improve the wellbeing of people around you. Avi explains that good listeners help the mental health of speakers - reducing depression and anxiety and increasing a sense of meaning in life.

Listening can, in fact, change somebody's opinion. If you are being well listened to, you will engage with both or more sides of an argument. Whereas if you are being poorly listened to, you will likely double down on one point of view. Avi shares a story of a student who cheated attendance to his classes. Good listening made him realise his own fault in the situation.

Avi also explains that the culture in Israel can be very argumentative and not respectful of listening, demonstrated by a high rate of interruption. This also means, however, that the core of what a person is saying is interrogated, rather than attacking the person themselves.

Before entering the conversation, make the decision to be invested in the other person. Avi says that good listening flows from this single intention.

"A listener shapes, very strongly, the quality of the talking of the other person" - Avi Kluger

• Why if you want to really listen, you need to be willing to change
• About the ratio of talking to listening across languages
• The difference between a nice voice and the true voice
• Why good listeners are better performers in education and at work
• Try to name the emotion of the speaker to break a repetitive conversation

Holly Ransom is chief executive of Emergent, a consultancy which specialises in marketing to millennials, a director of Port Adelaide Football Club and a trustee of The Prince's Charities Australia. Holly co-chaired the 2014 Y20 Youth Summit.

Holly explains how to listen to what matters to Millennials, and why young people are missing out by leaving the wisdom of the older generations untapped. Holly shares on how to listen across cultures, both around the world and back home: how can properly listening improve the lives of indigenous Australians?

Holly shares the experience of interviewing President Barack Obama. She illustrates the importance that he places on listening, how he made it a habit of his leadership, so that every decision he made was informed by as many different perspectives as possible.

Listening makes good intentions actually effective. Holly tells the story of a trip she took in Africa, where a perfectly functional well for drawing water wasn't being used by the local population. They would instead walk longer and further to another well, taking much needed time away. The well, though functional, had been built in a location of 'bad spirits'. Holly expresses that listening to people could have avoided this, it's an example of how listening can make the difference between good intentions and good outcomes.

• How to view a different culture without imposing your own views 
• The important nuances required for proper dialogue to take place
• How to engage Millennials with goal-oriented steps
• How to listen to all people great and small
• How a high-school exercise impacted Holly's listening for years to come

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In this episode, MathPath Aubrey Blanche helps people, teams, and organizations notice the edge of their mental, and systems models.

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Jennifer Brandel began her career in journalism in the early 2000s, reporting for numerous outlets including The New York Times and Vice, picking up awards along the way. In 2011 she founded the groundbreaking audience first series, Curious City at WBEZ in Chicago. Her company, Hearken, was awarded a spot in Matter.vc's accelerator and took home the prize for "Best Bootstrap Company" at SXSW 2016. Jennifer was awarded the 2016 Media Changemaker Prize from the Center for Collaborative Journalism and named one of 30 world-changing women in conscious business.

Andrew Haeg is a veteran journalist and entrepreneur, correspondent for The Economist, founder of the mobile engagement platform GroundSource and co-founder of the Public Insight Network at American Public Media. He has focussed his career on using technology to help newsrooms better listen to their audiences and communities. As a result of this, he aims to make their journalism more reflective of and responsive to the people they serve.

Andrew and Jennifer share their individual experiences as journalists who have come to learn the importance of deep listening. Andrew describes it as the difference between transactional listening and building connections. Rather than listening to take stories from sources, establishing real connections with people allows you to tell the stories of those who would otherwise be uninclined or unable to.

Jennifer speaks to her training which preferenced efficiency and distribution over actual journalism. She was instructed to write stories before going out into the field, then finding quotes to back it up - confirming what she already knew, not discovering new things. This provides minimal ability to tell stories accurately, in fact, Jennifer attributes this way of working to a broken state of journalism globally. Are the stories essentially false, if they're confirming biases? Jennifer chose instead to take longer writing her stories, so she could listen deeper, even if it meant taking on other work to make ends meet.

It's a harder way of working, Andrew describes, to listen properly. However, doing so creates richer stories, and connects communities of people to themselves and others, in a way that journalism based on transactional listening does not.

• How hungry people are to talk with journalists when they listen deeply
• How to collect feedback beyond a simple survey
• How to listen to the full person
• How listening ensures relevancy
• How to cultivate a deeply engaged audience
• How listening can be healing

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Bettina Turnbull provides a unique perspective on listening - with expertise in both linguistics and audiology. Bettina has worked in research at the National Acoustic Laboratories, working directly with hearing impaired patients and as a teacher of Audiometry. She has spent the last 5 years introducing hearing care professionals to a client-centered, and more recently, a family-centered approach, which requires an understanding of both the difficulties a hearing loss poses to the ability to listen and the skill to be a good listener.

Bettina shares the story of a visually impaired teacher, who caused her to think about the importance of listening. He wouldn't use a stick, or be assisted by a guide dog, but instead clicked his fingers and listened, to gauge his surroundings.

Bettina's education in linguistics taught her to listen first in order to create, in particular, listening to different sounds. She is multi-lingual, and must listen intently when listening across languages.

As an audiologist, Bettina has strategies to provide the best opportunities for clear speaking and listening: slowing down one's speech, facing people straight on, and situating in a location that is well lit. We can be reluctant to admit we're not listening well, meaning steps aren't taken to remedy it.

• Why you might ask a speaker to slow down
• The difference between hearing and listening
• How to listen for grammar
• How the ear works - how, biologically, we listen

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With a doctorate in sociocultural and medical anthropology, and a degree in visual design, Michelle Barry has spent the past 20 years pioneering new ways to engage people by understanding the nuances of human behavior, emotions and how to effectively translate culture.

Michelle explains the importance of context for listening, creating the right environment and making the speaker feel comfortable. She begins by drawing the connection between listening and food, why it helps establish contextual cues that direct both the speaker and listener, without them knowing.

Michelle talks about the importance of listening in business environments, where it can combat an otherwise exclusive focus on decision-making. The best results often come from the ability to be comfortable with the uncomfortable, leaving a pause longer than normal and asking the unspoken questions. Similarly, Michelle emphasises that turning off recorders and cameras – giving a speaker the freedom to retract and retry what they have to say – is crucial.

A lesson learned the hard way, Michelle tells the story of a potential client that she misunderstood by not listening deeply, instead being too caught up in the possible outcome of the work.

• Why pizzas are round rather than square
• That if you can't relate to a person, there's a good chance you can't listen to them
• The importance of context and culture in listening
• The four level listening pathway

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Liz Gross leads the team at Campus Sonar, an agency which empowers colleges and universities to find and analyze relevant conversation, learning and engaging with them. She calls it social listening.

The cost of not listening has led to public distrust of these institutions in the USA, and this distrust fundamentally undercuts tertiary education's mission of access to learning. It also carries a financial cost in slowed enrollments, and legal fees.

Liz speaks about the importance of listening in a crisis situation. It's these moments when trust will be lost the fastest and will cost the most to repair, but good listening can mitigate these.

Whilst it's tempting for Liz and her agency to bring new clients onboard as quickly as possible, she has found that taking the time to listen to potential customers leads to better outcome to both her and the client.

Campus Sonar reveals that there's often a disconnect between owned and earned conversations about a college. Clients need to get on board with the conversations that are already happening, alongside looking for results of their own campaigns.

Listen to hear about the example of Spring Hill College, and why 'family' was such a topic of discussion. Spring Hill College were able to embrace this and make it a key part of the college's identity; engaging everyone from parents, prospective and current students, to alumni decades out from graduation.

• Cost of not listening is financial, legal and reputation
• How to go from purpose-driven listening at work, to listening without an agenda
• How listening to your audience makes speaking to them more effective

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Allan Parker is a Behavioural Scientist and the Managing Director of Peak Performance Development Pty Ltd, a Sydney based consultancy company. His areas of expertise include negotiation, organisational change, and dispute Management. His clients have included Microsoft, AMP, BNP Paribas, Macquarie Bank, NSW Bar Association, the OECD and United Nations. He is the co-author of the best-selling book 'Switch on Your Brain' and author of 'The Negotiator's Toolkit', among others.

Allan Parker shares his insights on listening from his unique perspective of behavioural science. He speaks not only about listening with your ears but with your brain, with your gut, your breathing, nervous system and more.

When you are listening, Allan suggests ‘hitting the pause button’ on the conversation, and taking the time to check with the speaker that what you have heard is correct. It is easy to misinterpret what someone is saying, perhaps due to context or words with multiple meanings. Do you need to ask the speaker to repeat what they have said? Listening for meaning, and not just to the words is so important.

The consequences of not listening are serious, says Allan, and our own chatter inside our brain needs to be quietened in order to listen correctly. He explains how focusing on our peripheral vision can turn down the volume of this internal chatter.

How can we show a speaker that we’re listening? Nodding is a confirmation that we’re tuned in. Facial expressions such as eyebrow raises, and eye movement shows that we’re truly thinking about what we’re hearing. Undisturbed features, on the other hand, may indicate that we’re not actually taking much onboard, engaging in ‘pretend listening’.

• The different ways we process information while listening - are you an audial or visual thinker?
• How we bring our own bias to the conversation by 'feeling' too early
• Why to wait for one full breath before you ask a question
• Why the fewer words the better, to eliminate bias
• How to be present, in 'this three seconds'

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The Honourable Michael Kirby is an international jurist, educator and former judge on the High Court of Australia. He has undertaken many international activities for the United Nations, the OECD and the Global Fund Against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. His recent international activities have included chairing the UN Commission of Inquiry on DPRK (North Korea). He is an Honorary Professor at 12 Australian and overseas universities and has been awarded prizes such as the Australian Human Rights Medal.

Very few people have formal training in listening, despite its importance. Michael Kirby is no exception, speaking with Oscar for the podcast is the very first time he has ever discussed the role of listening in his work as a judge on the High Court of Australia.

Michael Kirby begins by speaking about the value of his early family conversations and the gifts of communication that. he gained at that young age. His mother specifically modeled good listening skills. His father read to him often, he remembers specifically Grimm’s Fairy Tales, with moral lessons such as not being greedy or too big for your boots. Michael Kirby inherited his father’s storytelling voice from eagerly listening to him.

Success in student politics at university was due in part to Michael Kirby’s ability to listen to others’ concerns and desires and to act on them. He gained their respect and support by listening intently in order to respond. He posits that perhaps politics is left wanting because people are not listening.

Michael Kirby devised a form of note taking in tree diagrams, with the major and minor points displayed hierarchically. In this way, the whole picture can be gleaned from a glance, and the context isn’t overlooked. He makes clear that context is crucial for meaning. A day in the courts for a judge requires sustained attention to detail. Concentration is key for the whole day, listening and processing the case.

• Why to start your day early, before distractions begin
• Why being 'present' isn't enough to listen well
• How to focus the mind to listen for long periods of time
• How to make decisions after listening
• About Michael Kirby's work with the United Nations and North Korean refugees

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Lise Barry is an expert meditator and helps to resolve complex and frustrating disputes in society and in the workplace. You will learn how to create a listening process that is neutral and productive for all those involved in a dispute where they feel no one is listening to them.

Lise is a Senior Lecturer and Director of Learning and Teaching at Macquarie Law School and came to the law from a
background working in mediation and Youth Justice Conferencing. As a nationally accredited mediator working with the NSW
Attorney General’s Department, Lise mediates disputes ranging from neighborhood and family law disputes through to commercial
and workplace disputes.

Lise is also a member of the NSW Guardian Ad Litem panel, representing people who lack the capacity to
instruct a solicitor or to represent themselves in NSW Courts and Tribunals. Lise currently teaches courses in Legal Ethics and
Alternative Dispute Resolution. As a foundational co-convenor of the Australian Research Network on Law and Ageing (ARNLA),Lise collaborates with colleagues around Australia contributing to research on legal issues of concern to older Australians. Lise is also a member of EMAN – ‘Elder Mediation Australasian Network’.

Lise stresses the importance of creating a neutral, listening environment for every mediation session for conflict resolution. Lise is not the judge and does not make decisions for the two parties, but moderates the conflict. She allows for them to break down their rehearsed stories and built up anger and work something out between themselves. Lise is process focussed, not outcome focussed.

A lawyer’s client may have already decided what resolution they want and it may mean they go to court unnecessarily. Lise explains how a lawyer needs to listen to the client, to get to know the problem first, before just coming up with a solution.

• Why you may need to feel listened to, before you can listen to someone else
• How to uncover the underlying issue, not just deal with the present conflict
• The importance of preparation to listen for long periods of time
• How to prepare a space that is conducive to listening
• How listening can bring release from entrenched conflict

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Frank Schneider is the CEO of artificial intelligence listening company, Speakeasy AI, whose mission and technology is based upon the premise of listening to understand, not merely respond.

He was born and raised in Philadelphia, a city where listening is equal parts human empathy and survival, Frank spent the bulk of his 22 professional years in roles where active listening is of paramount importance.

Frank has taught elementary, middle and high school and worked with adult 'English as a second language' students fleeing war-torn countries, and teens who were court adjudicated. He has coached basketball players and sales reps, counselled convicted felons, teachers and corporate teams in conflict resolution and peer mediation.

Frank explains the history of listening software, in typed conversations between humans and chatbots. Now we’re speaking vocally to artificial intelligence, famously to assistants like Alexa and Google Home. However, your voice is still transcribed word for word and sent into very similar algorithms to those that powered chatbots. This is listening to transcribe, not listening for meaning or understanding.

Advanced listening AI, that Frank works with, attempts to understand what we're saying from the moment we say hello. Real listening examines the type of language that's being used and also incorporates context. In this way, it should be accurate, helpful and effective at large scale.

Frank also talks about why listening is pivotal to being a basketball coach. No matter how you coach, you’re not playing the game, so you need to listen to your team to get on-the-field knowledge about what’s happening. The players have something to say, so in order to give the best advice, guidance and direction, you need to have their input onboard.

Tune in to Learn

• How software listens differently to humans, but what we can learn ourselves
• Why listening is important for serving others
• Why groups can solve their own problems when they are in a listening environment
• How comedic impressions can provide valuable insight
• The power of software to listen to thousands of conversations simultaneously

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Graham Bodie is a listening educator and consultant. He teaches on the topic of listening at university, conducts research and writes publications. Graham is also a coach and consultant in listening to the business world. He co-authored ‘The Sourcebook of Listening Research’.

Graham’s credits his father for some of his listening skills. In conversations, he might not say a lot, but in his silent listening drank everything in and then said something insightful.

He points out that we interrupt more than we think we do. It’s understandable, as we want to get what we have to say heard. It means, however, that we end up listening to respond rather than to understand.

We should be aiming to listen 80% of the time whilst speaking only 20%.

We need to practice not interrupting, as well as practicing listening. Allay the fear in your mind that someone is going to speak all day and waste your time - they won’t!

• The six questions you need to ask and answer before you interrupt someone
• How you think about your listening is like you think about your driving
• Listening for 'relational meaning' and the intent of the speaker
• Admit and acknowledge how you feel and move on to what you should be doing
• Behavioural and verbal cues to help a speaker feel listened to
• Why we need to change our attitude toward silence
• The value of asking prompting question such as 'What else?'

Graham Bodie's website

Graham Twitter

Graham LinkedIn

Book: The Sourcebook of Listening Research

Quotes:

"Listen 80% of the time, speak only 20% - Graham

"A speaker won't speak for very long unless a listener indicates interest, attention and permission to continue. - Graham"

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Improv is about listening and responding. It’s paying attention to what’s going on around you and responding to it. Improv focuses on affirmation and elevation.

Jen Brown is a world-class improv performer and teacher. Being in theatre and improv, Jen was trained to listen. Being a good actor is being a good listener.

She teaches improv to professionals to improve their listening, communication, connection, and creative skills.

Jen shares what she thinks are the four points needed to be present to move forward with everyday listening:

1. Who you are
2. Where you are
3. How you feel
4. What you want

If something is not moving forward in improv, or life, then you are probably missing one of these four things.

Listening is a skill we underestimate. Choose to be present and listen actively, don’t be thinking about your next move.

Tune in to Learn

• Jen’s role models and how they were able to zone in on conversations
• Jen’s stories about her first improv audition and teaching session
• Tips and techniques to clear your mind and be present with what’s in front of you
• Admit and acknowledge how you feel and move on to what you should be doing
• Stories about trying something different and how there’s no success or failure
• Listening for progress and gifts
• Listening for the “want” has a big impact, but paying attention to feelings and emotions is just as vital
• Every way we positively and negatively interact is tapped into listening

Links and Resources:

Jen's TedXTalk

Jen on Twitter

Jen on LinkedIn

The Engaging Educator

Book: Improv(e): Using Improv to Find Your Voice, Style, and Self

Oscar Trimboli’s books

Quotes:

I want to strive to be so intentional and connective when I am listening and attending to people. - Jen

Hearing happens. Listening is a choice. - Jen

Want to create a big impact? Subscribe to the Deep Listening podcast and never miss an episode.

If you have any suggestions, questions or recommendations for people to interview for podcast please email podcast@oscartrimboli.com.

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This is the life-changing work that is the focus of B Corp certified life sciences recruitment and search consultancy - RBW Consulting spanning Boston, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, North Carolina, and San Diego.

Their work covers everything from computational biology, product development, engineering, regulatory affairs, and everything in between, across pharmaceutical and life sciences industries.

Continuing with our behind-the-scenes season of speaking to people who are using Deep Listening, we listen to Emma and Michelle about their focus on Human Intelligence.

First, a little backstory and a shout-out to Stuart from Stirred Health who reached out to me in September of 2021 with this message.

"Hi, Oscar. I'm interested in discussing a collaboration/partnership on behalf of our client. We are keen to hear more about how Deep Listening could help us out and our client. I'm based in the UK."

I was then introduced to their chief commercial officer, Emma and their learning and development director Michelle.

What I love about working with RBW is the ripple effect of doing one thing consistently well.

We discussed this very thoroughly in the co-design process, which was ultimately foundational into integrating Deep Listening into their Human Intelligence strategy.

What you'll hear next is a discussion between Emma, Michelle, and myself about the impact of listening in the life sciences.

Listen out for the story about 

• how to consistently shorten meetings and build rapport
• how to listen beyond the CV
• the importance of the productive question rather than any question
• the question every candidate should be asking during an interview

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Leaders’ operating rhythms or schedules rarely make time to just sit and listen to their employees. By listening, it aligns leaders with employees to increase the bottom line. It makes all the difference in the world.

A team listening environment correlates with financial performance and employee satisfaction, productivity, and retention.

Michelle K. Johnston, a university professor in the United States, is an expert in leadership communication. She makes the connection between leaders listening and the positive impact on financial performance.

She describes the importance of pausing and silence to understand what you are thinking, and the continuous effort to learn from and listen to your staff. People want to know they are being heard and that their thoughts become part of the leadership team’s action plan.

Michelle explains the role of engagement surveys and the differences between qualitative and quantitative feedback.

Tune in to Learn

• Educational role models who influenced and taught Michelle how to listen
• How your teammates make you feel matters
• Become comfortable with silence and pauses; be patient and reassuring
• Team Listening Environment (TLE) Scale and financial performance
• Employees who felt listened to, valued, and understood had higher financial performance
• Tell Me/Listening Tour: Learn what’s keeping employees from high performance, making money, etc.
• Listen to employees and make meaningful connections, have someone else take notes and collect data
• Employees feeling heard in the moment and subsequently
• Go back to the beginning to be self-aware and know how to listen and tell stories
• Provide opportunities and exercises to find and create meaningful connections
• Elephant in the Room: What’s not being said; create a safe environment and make a difference
• Quantitative Feedback: Been there, done that. Nothing changes.
• Qualitative feedback should be utilized and makes a difference.

Links and Resources:

Michelle Johnston

Larry Barker

Quotes:

What I have found, it’s the qualitative feedback that makes all the difference in the world. - Michelle

It’s ok to pause and to be comfortable with silence and collecting your thoughts. -  Michelle

Want to create a big impact? Subscribe to the Deep Listening podcast and never miss an episode.

If you have any suggestions, questions or recommendations for people to interview for podcast please email podcast@oscartrimboli.com.

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Listening is a like a muscle that needs to get flexed. Otherwise, it loses power and is no longer a habit. Slow down, and take the time to listen.

Listen to people, and let them be who they are. Listen as a form of respect, and ask questions to know someone’s motivations and who they are.

Learning to listen changed how Kathy LeMay handles fundraising to fulfill missions that create social change. Rather than pitching and asking for money, she embraces radical listening.

For over 25 years, Kathy has been an internationally-recognized public speaker, philanthropic advisor, global social change fundraiser and published author whose purpose-driven life centers on lifting up the voices, stories, leadership and influence of the world's unseen social change warriors and freedom fighters.

Listening and not speaking has helped Kathy to raise about $175 million for causes she represents.

Tune in to Learn

• Kathy’s stepfather’s role as a listener and how he helped others by showing up
• Kathy went to rape genocide camps in Bosnia to listen and do social change
• Money raised is the outcome of passion
• Everyone has a story different than what they appear to be
• Learn to listen to people’s stories and respect where they are coming from
• Success is seeking to understand
• When was the last time someone really listened to you?
• Establish trust and have someone’s best interests at heart
• Listening can be awkward and uncomfortable; interrupting is enthusiasm
• The more successful you are, the more you should be talking - not true
• Less anxiety makes you a better listener; have less stress in business leadership
• Put others first and create something that serves their needs
• Redefining what success looks like
• Don’t make assumptions: Kathy’s first visit to the Four Seasons for fundraising
• Getting glimpses of lives in worlds that you don’t understand
• Listen for what is unsaid and grief
• What you do makes a difference and changes lives
• Talking about vulnerabilities is not a liability, but shows you care
• There’s a reason why people support something and why it is meaningful to them

Links and Resources:

Kathy LeMay

Chris Grumm

Quotes:

“Listening is a muscle the needs to get flexed.”-  Kathy

“Less anxiety makes you a better listener.” - Kathy

Want to create a big impact? Subscribe to the Deep Listening podcast and never miss an episode.

If you have any suggestions, questions or recommendations for people to interview for podcast please email podcast@oscartrimboli.com.

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Did you vote in the last presidential election? Did your candidate of choice win or lose? Were you surprised? Rather than listening to people, the media listened to the polls. The cost of not listening can make you become very disconnected from things that affect you and others on a daily basis. Not listening has an impact on lives because people feel unheard.

Today’s guest is Hillary Frey, director of editorial strategy at HuffPost. She is challenging you to talk to someone and ask them a question, then actually take a moment and listen to their answer.

It’s easy to make a gesture toward listening and caring. So, slow down and get past checking the box by asking a question, just to be considerate. It takes effort and practice, but becomes easier. Hear what is being said. Listening offers inspiration and bonding.

Tune in to Learn

• Huffington Post did a Listen to America tour to interview people about the last presidential election and to teach young journalists how to listen deeply and without judgement to stories.
• Hillary shares her journey to becoming a news editor. She enjoys listening to her reporters report stories. The best reporters ask the fewest questions, but they ask the right questions.
• Hillary’s passion is listening because everybody has a story. You can find yourself moved and engaged by a story you didn’t know existed.
• On the tour, HuffPost did not go in with an idea about what to ask, but made interviews as open-ended as possible to get people to share their stories.
• The bus tour was an opportunity that would help HuffPost talk directly to people and approach journalism differently than it had been done in the past.
• People wanted to talk about serious topics and issues that are deeply personal to them, such as education and health care.
• People were eager to share their stories and opinions. They had something to say.
• The tour was open to the public, but HuffPost also wanted to meet with specific communities, including the deaf and poor.
• HuffPost workers approached interviews in their own way. Some would ask, “What’s on your mind today?” Or, “Why are you here?”
• Interviews were brief to be able to talk to as many people as possible. About 1,500 recorded interviews were conducted.
• Consistent patterns from the interviews were people’s gratitude for being heard.
• Where you go is critical to listen to specific people and communities.
• Experiencing empathy and understanding makes for better journalists and reporters, and being a better person.
• As a result of the tour, HuffPost gave young journalists with little experience in the field to do reporting and look for great stories.
• HuffPost wants to make sure to continue interviewing and getting stories from various communities to cover the country better and differently.
• There are stories happening across the country that are of national importance but are missed because of the way media works.
• Our interactions with each other, especially at work, are usually superficial and a formality. Pull the threads of the conversation for it to be meaningful.
• Create a daily life where your force yourself to listen to people. It changes from being work to being a privilege.

Links and Resources:

Hillary Frey

Huffington Post

Quotes:

“It’s so easy to make the gesture towards listening and caring.” Hillary Frey

“The best reporters ask the fewest questions, but they ask the right questions.” Hillary Frey

“You can find yourself just so moved and engaged by a story you didn’t even know existed.” Hillary Frey

Want to create a big impact? Subscribe to the Deep Listening podcast and never miss an episode.

If you have any suggestions, questions or recommendations for people to interview for podcast please email podcast@oscartrimboli.com.

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When you are told that “you have cancer,” your mind just goes blank. Vanessa Oshima had this experience when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Vanessa’s doctor started to systematically go through what she needed to communicate. She had moved on to fixing things, but Vanessa was still stuck on the word “cancer” and not believing it, so she stopped listening.

Vanessa, president and founder of Heart Data, describes what it was like to be diagnosed with cancer and what that meant for her as a patient. Having cancer is a physical, emotional, and social journey that affects not only the patient, but  their family, friends, colleagues - a whole community.

Also, from living in Japan, Vanessa explains how the Japanese listen differently than Westerners. She found that Westerners are too quick to rush and not listen to what is said and what is not said. The Japanese culture focuses on judgement and filters that impede great listening.

Market research lets companies listen to customers every day. But do they choose to listen?

Tune in to Learn

• Vanessa describes the aspects of her physical, emotional, and social journey. Not being able to do what she used to do. She was holding on too tight to pre-cancer life and not understanding that life would be different now.
• While Vanessa was stunned at the news of having cancer, luckily her husband was with her and was able to take notes on what her doctor was saying about it.
• Vanessa learned that when delivering tough news, rather than being very dry, it should be done in a very thoughtful and empathetic way.
• When you need to communicate something but don’t stop to make sure the listener (person or audience) is hearing you, then that becomes ineffective communication. You’re talking, but they are not listening.
• To do things differently and prepare a listener for tough news is first asking them about their mindset. Find out what’s important to the listener. Give them time to grasp what is happening and how they want to proceed.
• Gauge what is said but also what is not said to help someone deal with difficult news.
• In market research, it’s important to acknowledge patterns and people’s comments to let the listener know that they have been heard. React to a reaction.
• Communication is not just words. But how often are we actually watching and listening? Not enough.
• The Japanese culture is very zen and considerate. With the Japanese, you need to listen to what is unsaid and pick up information through actions, such as when they take in a breath of air. They are aware of their surroundings and details, which allows them to listen.
• Westerners who travel to Japan should not take everything at face value. In Japan, there is much more context and meaning. Take time to learn and listen to the cultural context.
• Avoid judging others. Vanessa had her own definition of equality and thought Japanese women were not being treated equally and that was discrimination. However, after conducting research, she discovered that was not true. The Japanese define equality differently. You can fail to listen because you have biases.
• Companies often invest a lot of money into listening consumers. But how well do they listen? Companies track what they want to know about, but not necessarily what the consumer wants to tell them. Also, too much data is tracked, so not all of it is used.
• The market research industry is evolving to understand what companies need to listen for. Consumers are making information available to companies every day - if they choose to listen to it.
• Listen to every complaint to figure out what you need to do - that is market research. Everybody should be a researcher and use data. There are techniques to listen for the right things and find the signal, not the noise.
• Market research is listening to your consumers, creating data around your consumers, and understanding your consumers.
• There is so much data available. We need to understand how to use and listen to it.
• While at Coca-Cola, Vanessa taught people how to listen and ask questions to make sure they were good listeners. She used the stream of consciousness technique - just letting a person talk. They remember things that were important, and you ask them about what they said.  
• Don’t ask “Why” because it makes people have to defend their point of view. It is more inviting to say, “I want to understand” rather than “I don’t understand.” Make market research inviting and engaging.
• Sometimes, consumers cannot communicate what they want to say.

Links and Resources:

Vanessa Oshima on LinkedIn

Quotes:

When you are giving tough news, that level of conversation has to be very thoughtful. - Vanessa

Everybody says communication is not just words, and they are so right. - Vanessa

Want to create a big impact? Subscribe to the Deep Listening podcast and never miss an episode.

If you have any suggestions, questions or recommendations for people to interview for podcast please email podcast@oscartrimboli.com.

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In low context, “No” means no. “Yes” means yes. I say what I mean, and I mean what I say. I get to the point, and I am direct. High-context is less clear. Contextual is not only about what is said but how it is said....the tone, pitch, facial expressions, etc.

It is important to know your own culture before you can understand someone else’s culture. Today’s guest is Tom Verghese, a cross-cultural consultant. Tom expresses the importance of listening for meaning, what’s unsaid, and use of silence.

We live in a globalized world, yet we spend very little time reflecting on our own culture. So, most of us are unable to articulate our own cultural values. To be a culturally intelligent leader, it is critical to understand your own cultural values.

How can you close a deal by listening to another culture? In this episode, Tom describes how things work across cultures. He is committed to greater understanding across cultures.

Tune in to Learn

• Tom addresses differences between cultures, such as when scheduling meetings. People can listen carefully to what’s being discussed, rather than spending all their time paying attention to the clock.
• In some cultures, it is difficult for people to challenge, speak up, have an opinion...unless they are asked or invited to do so.
• How do you move forward into the senior level of the glass ceiling? It’s not about your education or how hard you worked, it is about the unsaid.
• It’s about whether people you meet with will trust you, if you will know what to do and use during formal dinners - unspoken things.
• How do we learn that? Seek sponsorship, guidance, and coaching to learn the rules of the games when it comes to different cultures.
• It can be as simple as how to shake hands. When Tom first came to Australia to sell encyclopedias door-to-door, he sold nothing. His manager taught him how to properly shake hands there for people to view him as trustworthy, sincere, and reliable - that all comes from a handshake.  
• However, coming from Malasia, Tom had been giving a gentle handshake. There was a clash, and he was giving the wrong impressions.
• Handshakes and eye contact are non-verbal forms of communication that matter in different cultures.
• There are differences in high vs. low-context communication styles. It is not just about what is said, but non-verbal communication, as well. The message is not in what is said, but what is not being said.
• Silence comes into play because there are a lot more gaps when determining when to respond and what to listen for. In Western culture, there are social cues. For example, one person speaks and the other person pauses. In other cultures, there is overlap where people speak at the same time and on top of each other.
• A gap of silence demonstrates a level of respect. This can be very challenging for some people.
• Went Tom and a client went to Korea for a meeting in the banking industry, his client found it difficult to not over-talk. He found it a lot easier to talk about what to do in different cultures, than to actually do what you are supposed to do in the moment.
• This experience helped Tom to improve his coaching techniques by having clients ask a question and then perform a physical movement as a way to keep quiet - become comfortable in the silence.
• Watch and listen for indicators that typically go over your head. Make sure to ask follow-up questions to move toward action.
• Years ago, it was about cross-cultural effectiveness: how to deal with different cultures. Now, the focus is on cultural intelligence - how to deal with people from different cultural backgrounds. For example, someone may look Chinese, but they were raised in America, studied in Spain, and married someone from Norway.
• It comes down to deep listening - how do I listen for the message behind the words?
• How do you start a meeting that is conscious of all cultures present? Establish agreements, ground rules, and a belief system. For example, agree on a specific time standard, ie. British, India, etc.
• If you work with language interpreters, Tom’s advice is to speak less.
• Be careful. Jokes are very difficult to translate across different cultures.
• The person who breaks the rules is the person who does n, which creates angst.
• Different cultures treat conflict differently. Conflict involves different points of agreement and view. When dealing with someone who has a different view, disagree gently and in ways that maintain relationships.
• Be interested in the other and what they are saying. Everyone has a story. Listen to that story.

Links and Resources:

Cultural Synergies

Cultural Synergies LinkedIn

Quotes:

It’s all of the things that’s the unsaid, which is really around organizational culture. - Tom

Sometimes the message is not in what’s being said, but what’s not being said. - Tom

Want to create a big impact? Subscribe to the Deep Listening podcast and never miss an episode.

If you have any suggestions, questions or recommendations for people to interview for podcast please email podcast@oscartrimboli.com.

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Designers understand the importance of drawing, but what about note taking to visually capture ideas, experiences, and information? What really matters in a conversation? Mike Rohde shares how sketchnoting has changed his life. Listening is at the heart of what he learned about it. By listening, Mike is able to form an analysis of what he is hearing to visually draw it. He makes an impact beyond words.

Mike is a user experience designer, author, and creator of a listening language called, Sketchnoting. He comes from a long line of listeners, including his father and mother. From them, Mike learned the value of observing, asking questions, awareness of others, and additional listening skills. Also, a few of his teachers and others at college, including jazz radio disc jockey Howard Austin, helped guide his career.

Howard could be tough but understanding. He made Mike strive for quality standards. For example, during college, Mike became passionate about a project for Howard where he researched Leica cameras because he was fascinated by photography. He produced an audio/visual slideshow featuring handmade illustrations. Howard seemed pleased and impressed.

Now, Mike’s work stretches across the whole spectrum from user testing to designing an interface to make things look right and work properly.

In this episode, Mike discusses the process of facilitating a group of people to listen to what users and an organization need. The first step is to create a script to test on the users. What do you want to discover about your application? Users are observed using the application and notes and videos are captured. What are the patterns? The information leads designers to finding solutions.

Tune in to Learn

• It is beneficial to see people using applications and products to determine what works well and what needs to be improved. Discussions are held to find solutions to issues.
• Mike leads whiteboarding sessions for his team to spend time discussing an application before user testing.
• Mike shares examples of when end users or staff members had a transformational impact on an application after discussing or testing it.
• You don’t want end users to struggle with an application and simply give up on using it. Often, it involves listening to what is unsaid. Testing identifies such issues, and lets a team immediately regroup to solve issues and test again.
• Mike has authored two books: The Sketchnote Workbook and The Sketchbook Handbook. His books help people to listen properly and simplify what they hear when taking notes.
• Mike had been frustrated about his own notetaking - he was good at it, but hated doing it. He wrote too many details and in too big of a book. He never wanted to reread his notes or analyze them. He discovered tips and tricks, including using a smaller notebook and writing fewer details. He started to analyze and listen to what was valuable enough to be captured. He started to draw pictures instead of writing, which he began to refer to as sketchnoting.
• Mike discusses the process of printing his books, from understanding the content, deciding how to lay it out, handling production work, and creating illustrations.
• He wanted to create a community through his sketchnoting books, where he could spread the concept to others and make it adaptable. The community is warm and encouraging - creating a generous spirit. It is a gift and legacy from Mike.

Links and Resources:

Sketchnotes; The Sketchnote Workbook and The Sketchnote Handbook

Leica cameras

Howard Austin at Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC)

Quotes:

Listening is the real secret weapon of sketchnoting.- Mike

The trick is you can’t give the answers. When they struggle, you start to see revelations. - Mike

Want to create a big impact? Subscribe to the Deep Listening podcast and never miss an episode.

If you have any suggestions, questions or recommendations for people to interview for podcast please email podcast@oscartrimboli.com.

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Most organizations, which are groups of people led by someone, are poor at listening. But the tone at the top drives it all. As a leader, if you don’t listen to both verbal and non-verbal communication, as well as proactively engage others, then your approach or method of listening will not cascade through your organization and down to customers. Create a connection that is powerful and deep. Karen Borg is a commercial businessperson who discusses the role of market research in commercial organizations and how money is wasted by repeating research and ignoring what customers are saying.

Karen brings many different perspectives on how to listen to different opinions to reach a great outcome. What are the roles involved with listening? As a result, you may have to change what you are saying.

While in boarding school in Germany, teachers taught Karen about listening. In the German language, there is a formal and informal use of “you.” The language and the culture is more of a formal way of communicating. Therefore, listening is predicated on whether you are being addressed formally or informally.

Concessions are made for people who have not grown up in such a culture. But you should consider certain things when interacting with someone from another culture. Such as, appreciate any effort someone has made to understand your culture. If they don’t put forth effort, then others may view their engagement style as insulting and inappropriate. Karen describes the importance of appreciating and respecting different cultures and demonstrating that you want to learn more.

Tune in to Learn

• Karen describes the difference in commerce cultures in the East and elsewhere, such as whether to shake hands or not.
• In Japan, Karen went to a supermarket and thought she bought some kind of dried fish. She shared it with others, which made meetings with them much easier because they had shared something together.
• Karen attended boarding school in Germany, in a culture where she knew nothing about it. She was very much a foreigner. Eventually, she could listen to others who were speaking German and understand everything they were saying. Her experience in Germany, though, helped her to become independent and adaptable.
• Karen was born in Australia, and eventually moved back there. When she returned to Australia, she discovered how much more informal and acknowledging teachers were in schools.
• Karen moved from academic learning into commerce, which took her to some amazing far and away places. She wanted to experience the intersection of commerce and creativity, so she first got into advertising.
• Business is about the delivery of outcomes. Ultimately, you have to deliver results. Customers, shareholders, and others expect that.
• Briefing Process: To write a good brief is an art. Language, when well used, can tell a very clear story about the objective you are trying to achieve. When briefs are done poorly, the outcomes can be diabolical. People are not well-trained in how to articulate their thoughts and structure briefs.
• A common element across all great briefs is when you start out with the end in sight - what you are trying to achieve. Develop the structure of the objective first, and then fill around it.
• Karen decided to move away from advertising to become a client instead, where she could experience owning everything - from making decisions to handling budgets. She went to a chocolate company to learn how to build and maintain a business.
• Money is often wasted on market research. Hear what the customer said and do what the customer asked. Customers are usually emotionally attached to specific brands and products. Determine whether research results have changed or not and how people view the packaging and products - do they find them tiring or not. It’s the trusted and the loved that keeps customers coming back.
• Nobody has bad memories, only good, about confectionary - sunny times and good feelings.
• Karen shares an experience with a dissatisfied customer in a hospital in Japan about a sterilization product and a lightbulb malfunctioning in it. In Japanese culture, a product must work the same way, every time. When it does not work the way it should, a customer’s anger becomes intense. In response, Karen was sincere, apologized, and expressed that she would try to solve the problem. She listened to the customer and acknowledged their frustration. It comes down to cultural norms.
• Organizations are typically poor at listening and engaging others, and that approach comes from the top. The leader of an organization setting up metrics around customers and their needs that need to be followed, measured, and responded to quickly via dialogue.  
• Leaders are listeners who consider what others say and offer support. Trust that the other person has heard you and is willing to respond in some way. Judge by action, not words.
• Set up an engagement model that works for everyone. Acknowledge that something needs to be addressed, but not calling it out or identifying the “elephant in the room.” So that in ends positively and resolves issues.

Links and Resources:

Karen Borg

Rowntree Hoadley Factory; Nestlé

Haribo Gummy Bears

Volkswagen

Mars and Coke

Johnson & Johnson

Quotes:

“By opening yourself up and demonstrating you want to learn more, people want to share more.” - Karen Borg

“It’s an art to say just enough, not too much, not too little.” - Karen Borg

Want to create a big impact? Subscribe to the Deep Listening podcast and never miss an episode.

If you have any suggestions, questions or recommendations for people to interview for podcast please email podcast@oscartrimboli.com.

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Ebohr Figueroa is the principal consultant for Converge International. In this episode, Ebohr and I take a magical tour through modern corporate Australia. He is a world-class moderator who opens a window into modern corporations. He looks at conflict and totally deconstructs it. We learn what is disempowering about conflict avoidance. We also learn what is productive when conflict is managed well.

How many conflicts are you a part of right now? What role do you play in trying to avoid these conflicts? Ebohr provides fantastic tips on how to make progress through conflict. The goal is to do this in a way that supported, productive, and impactful. We really deep dive into conflict resolution in the corporate workplace, and Ebohr offers amazing insights.

Today’s Topics:

• Constructing a vessel where we feel safe includes having core values like being kind, being courteous, being honest, being thoughtful of others, having a sense of humor, and recognizing that we are all human and can be misunderstood when we get stressed.
• We need to have the courage to check in with colleagues if we say something that is inappropriate.
• Managers need to be able to call behavior problems when they observe it.
• We also need to be compassionate and understanding.
• We may see a colleague with bad behavior and not understand that they may be struggling with personal issues.
• There is an appropriate way to do that without having it turn into gossip.
• We should also be careful that we aren’t fanning the flames of conflict.
• Recognizing power dynamics and practicing feedback.
• Role modeling and still being human when wearing your manager’s hat.
• Find a mentor to practice conflict resolution. Be aware of factors that create a positive work culture such as making people feel valued and recognize. Also be mindful of social values and understand that people will place value on different things.
• Creating a safe environment and creating context.
• Managers should also practice coaching their team members.
• How people can sometimes feel trivialized to not heard when their mediations are swept under the carpet.
• Ebohr asks many questions until he finds the person who can give detailed context, so he can understand what is actually going on.
• He meets with people individually, but they sometime have a support member with them.
• To prepare Ebohr clears his mind and sets an intention to listen and understand.
• Mediations where some people don’t speak English well. Some are aware or self-conscious of their accents.
• There are nuances to language that can be lost.
• Finding what is important to a person and what makes them feel validated. A misunderstanding is just the tip of the iceberg.
• Listening deliberately for what is unsaid and listening beyond the obvious.
• You often get the most crucial piece of information towards the end of the conversation.
• Listening with vulnerability and creating barriers. Ebohr shares a trip that he went on with his dad.

Links and Resources:

Converge International

Ebohr Figueroa on LinkedIn

Quotes:

“In order for tension to be received well, an environment has to be created where it’s safe for me to say those things.” Ebohr Figueroa

“We need to have an acceptance that we are all fallible and yet also commit to a baseline of positive human traits.” Ebohr Figueroa

Want to create a big impact? Subscribe to the Deep Listening podcast and never miss an episode.

If you have any suggestions, questions or recommendations for people to interview for podcast please email podcast@oscartrimboli.com.

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Sammi Grant is a professional dialect/vocal coach and voiceover artist. She has coached over 50 theatrical productions, worked on major television shows, and provided private coaching to countless actors. Sammi brings a unique perspective on listening and focusing on the human voice. Sammi is legally blind and her hearing is more attuned, because it has to be.

Today, we explore how to listen like a dialect coach. We also explore the impact of breathing on how we listen to ourselves and others. Sammi listens deeply to accents from around the world and translates how those accents are spoken to teach her clients the use of those accents. She also provides accent modification to anyone wishing to sound more general American.

Today’s Topics:

• Sammi is legally blind. She still has impaired vision in one eye, but she has degenerative glaucoma.
• She shares a story of Mr. Thompson a great teacher who would really listen to students.
• The last couple of years of high school, Sammi started noticing how people use their voices to tell stories.
• She is hyper aware and even tones who voice down to sound more general American.
• She is aware of what she is doing in a curious non-judgemental way.
• Consciously using breath and avoiding vocal fry which can be limiting and not as pleasing to listen to.
• A lot of people don’t breath before they start talking because of fear of public speaking.
• Sammi helps actors learn how to portray a certain role. She strives for authenticity, comprehension, and acting.
• The accent needs to be tied to the character and the choices that character makes.  
• Placement, oral posture, sound changes, rhythm and intonation are all things she looks at.
• She also has clients who want to tone down their accents.
• Sammi shares how to create an accent from London and Pakistan.
• Noticing the feeling and emotion behind the words without using vision.
• Using pitch and volume to either express or hide your emotions.
• Time periods and the characters circumstances play a role in how their accents sound.
• Be open minded and listen beyond the surface.

Links and Resources:

Sammi Grant

Sammi Grant on Facebook

Sammi Grant on LinkedIn

How To Do 12 Different Accents

This Dialect Coach Can Transport You With Her Perfect Accents

Quotes:

“It’s a natural inclination of mine to listen and take everything in.” Sammi Grant

“I am accustomed to analyzing my voice down to tiny little breaths and pauses.” Sammi Grant

“I’d rather listen to people with different accents than to listen to the same one all day.” Sammi Grant

Want to create a big impact? Subscribe to the Deep Listening podcast and never miss an episode.

If you have any suggestions, questions or recommendations for people to interview for podcast please email podcast@oscartrimboli.com.

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Not listening creates a huge cost to the medical system. Dr. Michael Buist is here today, to talk about that cost and the importance of listening in a medical setting. Dr. Michael Buist is a full time academic physician and intensive care specialist. He is a graduate of Otago Medical School in New Zealand (MB ChB 1983) and completed specialist training with the Royal Australasian College of Physicians in intensive care medicine (FRACP 1991, FCICM 2010).

In 2007, he graduated Doctor of Medicine with the submission of his thesis to Monash University; The epidemiology and prevention of in hospital cardiac arrests. He also has a graduate certificate in health economics from Monash University (2001). He is a Honorary Clinical Professor, Faculty of Health, University of Tasmania. In addition he undertakes private physician clinics in a community general practice in Wynyard, Tasmania and is a clinical coordinator for Ambulance Tasmania.

His academic contributions (80 peer review publications) are in the areas of health reform, evidence-based approaches to improving hospital systems and processes, and clinical engagement, on contemporary issues related to patient safety and patient centred care.

He has made significant contributions to patient safety that has had a substantial positive impact on hospitals, clinicians and communities nationally and internationally. This is best exemplified by his two publications on Rapid Response Systems in the British Medical Journal (2002 and 2007) and the Lancet (2005). Professor Buist has been a passionate and public advocate for health system quality and reform with a particular focus on patient safety.

In this episode, Dr Michael Buist describes the impact of limited listening training in the medical profession. Michael outlines the personal cost to him and his wife of not being heard whilst they were patients in hospital and the systemic implications across the medical and public sector which provides most of the funding to health care.

Tune in to Learn

• How Michael is passionate about the role of listening in a medical context.
• Michael’s athletic coach taught him how to listen with his own body to notice the congruence of what is being said and what the body is showing.
• How the most important thing that can be changed in the medical profession is reforming the listening between patient and caregiver which takes place at the bedside.
• The nuances of listening and observing children who are faced with life and death issues.
• Michael shares powerful personal stories about life, death, and himself and his own family. These stories accentuate Michael’s passion for listening.
• Transforming 21st century medicine to patient centered medicine.
• Assuming that people are listening and not teaching people to listen well.
• How not listening can lead to adverse medical events. Patients need to be listened to.
• How patients who don’t have doctorates and aren’t highly educated get ignored.
• The problem with healthcare is too based on how the healthcare system runs as opposed to patient centric care.
• Asking what was the best part of your day instead of saying how is your day. Listening is about conversation.
• When there is an equivalent level of verbal questions and listening that goes both ways people are hitting it off.
• Teaching students to ask thoughtful questions from a medical perspective.
• The power of exploring what is unsaid.
• How a UK hospital had a culture of substandard care. A woman blew the whistle on the hospital on how her mother was treated there.
• They found that the right culture needs to be created at the bedside, and a big part of that culture is just listening to patients.
• Patients need to be treated as human beings who do understand their bodies.

Links and Resources:

2014 Paris keynote - Please listen to me, I am bleeding - Michael Buist

Australian Story - Doctor in the House (Dr Michael Buist)

Quotes:

“When I was growing up we didn’t have sophisticated training tools, so it was all about listening to your body.” Dr. Michael Buist

“Listening to me is not about just taking in the words. It is taking in the whole environment and what is happening.” Dr. Michael Buist

Want to create a big impact?

Want to create a big impact? Subscribe to the Deep Listening podcast and never miss an episode.

If you have any suggestions, questions or recommendations for people to interview for podcast please email podcast@oscartrimboli.com.

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Today I'll explore before, during, and after a workshop.

This is a workshop I had with Sophie, who you'll hear from shortly and her peers. Then we did the same workshop with Sophie's team.

People regularly say, "Oscar, how can you listen after the conversation?"

This can take many forms.

It could be right at the end of a workshop where you ask a question or a poll roughly in the last 15% of the workshop.

You want to catch it in enough time that you can discuss it so you can hear what's being heard by the participants. So if the workshop's one hour, you should be asking this question between the 45-minute mark and the 50-minute mark.

Here's some of the questions I ask,

• what's one thing that changed your mind about listening today?
• what's one thing you'll implement based on what you heard today?

The first question is typically in shorter workshops, and the second question is typically in longer workshops.

Post-workshop, you can also run a survey or you can deconstruct the magical impact that a workshop has in a 25-minute debrief.

I do this within 14 days of the workshop.

What you don't know about me is I'm really disciplined and rigorous about post-workshop debriefs.

In fact, I'm talking about that before people even book in a workshop. I'm signaling to them that there will be a debrief. I signal to them in the workshop, that is something we'll discuss in the debrief. And this is crucial to create a space and place, to create a container where the host of the meeting, or a significant executive sponsor can unpack the learning that they had, that the group had.

I want to ensure that the host reflects on their own experience in the workshop and not just the workshop itself.

What you'll hear from Sophie shortly is her post-workshop experience and how ideas landed so powerfully because the workshop was so experiential, it was very hands-on.

I want hosts also to reflect on the participant experience, individuals, as well as a group.

I want to listen to what participants actually heard, rather than what I said.

I want to listen to what participants didn't hear, couldn't hear, or I didn't communicate effectively enough that it was useful for them.

Finally, I want to understand what was productive for the audience so I can distill that and crisp that up for next time to ensure that if it's landed with one group, it's highly likely to land with another group.

This is part of the craft of facilitating a workshop from a listening orientation, you want to hear what the group heard, what's landing, and what's not.

When you pick that up and use it next time, it's like somebody who's a woodworker, who's moving from chisel to sandpaper to varnish.

Sophie's been very gracious, she's allowed me to record this conversation to help you listen to what a debrief sounds like. Here are some of the excerpts from the discussion with Sophie.

As a young girl, Adaire Petrichor companioned her grandfather during his life-altering experiences with cancer, the treatments that followed and his eventual death. Adaire was profoundly affected when her youngest sister's life was tragically cut short when she was 21. In these two very different deaths, Adaire began to see the many ways grief carved its initials into one’s heart and soul.

She was to learn one more lesson about advocacy and cancer and the circles of life and death when her youngest son, age 11, was diagnosed with a rare form of cutaneous lymphoma. Little did she know how these experiences would shape and influence the inner landscape of her soul, nurturing the seed that was emerging as her life's work.

Adaire is the Founder of Heart of Dying Doulas LLC and the Founder and Director of The Heart of Dying Project, a budding non-profit dedicated to building community-based circles of care, through education, training and advocacy. The Heart of Dying’s mission is in Guiding the dying home, one Heart, one Family, one Community at a time.

She is deeply invested in the community and has been training end of life doulas, holding monthly meet-ups, workshops and trainings in end of life care for the last several years. A large part of the Heart of Dying’s vision is in creating a social hospice serving homeless and underserved women, while training displaced women, to accompany the residents as end of life companion doulas.

In this episode, Adaire describes how she listens to others at the end of their life. Adaire explains how she integrates families and medical professionals into the discussions that happen when life is about to move to a different place.

Today’s Topics:

• Adaire is an end of life doula and chaplain who helps people navigate through the difficult task of transitioning from life to death.
• She shares how she listens carefully to those moving on and away from life.
• She listens carefully to their families and the medical practitioners involved in the situation.
• We talk about the incredible power of looking carefully into people.
• Listening deeply without judgement to make sense and meaning out of what they are saying about the purpose of their lives.
• Finding the story for why children are here on earth. There are a lot of emotions that rise and fall like a hurricane on the ocean.
• The importance of being open and developing rapport, but not offering answers and just letting them talk.
• Not being emotional and thinking of yourself as a conduit or blank slate that is just holding the words, feelings, and energy that this person is sharing.
• Adaire uses techniques to bring herself in the present moment like journaling, writing, and paying attention to the chair she is sitting in.
• It’s not her job to take away this person’s pain as they offer her moments of their history and grief.
• When they are finished they will tell her physically and emotionally and take back what they need.
• Sharing these moments is a gift that is being shared and received.
• Repeating some parts of the story helps with integration and making sense.
• Listening and just helping the family out and creating a healing and remarkable experience.
• Balancing listening to those transitioning and those staying behind. Trusting intuition and experience.
• Practice applying value to the act of being to become a deeper listener.
• How the dying speak in a different language when they are close to death.

Links and Resources:

• The Life of Death
• Heart of Dying Doulas LLC
• The Heart of Dying Project

Quotes:

I benefited thinking of language as a whole experience. - Adaire

The visual, the sound, and the smell all of that is really part of my language. - Adaire

Want to create a big impact? Subscribe to the Deep Listening podcast and never miss an episode.

If you have any suggestions, questions or recommendations for people to interview for podcast please email podcast@oscartrimboli.com.

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Cameron Hough is an acoustic and theatre consultant with consulting firm Arup, and a freelance music critic. He has over 10 years experience in the acoustic design of a wide range of projects, but has a special interest in the acoustics of performing arts buildings, which combines his technical background as an engineer with his skills as a classically-trained orchestral musician.

He regularly attends performances and continues to play with orchestras and chamber music groups (including as the concertmaster of the Brisbane Philharmonic Orchestra and first violinist of Point String Quartet), and brings an approach to listening from both an artistic and a technical background.

Today, he explains how engineering can improve the way you listen to sounds of instruments and voices, and how you can learn how to create an effective listening environment.

Today’s Topics:

• Cameron talks about growing up and having to be the child who was seen and not heard.
• He started playing violin when he was five or six, and he has always been interested in sound.
• Cameron is the concertmaster or lead violin. He is the person who tunes the orchestra at the beginning. He is an intermediary between the conductor and the orchestra.
• What’s involved when creating music and the maths behind the sound of a violin.
• Hearing beats when the strings are perfectly in tune.
• How sound interacts with our ears and ultimately our brains.
• The interaction of sounds in spaces like auditoriums, concert halls, and restaurants
• How great listening environments are created through their physical attributes.
• How to make an impactful office from a listener’s perspective.
• Taking sound for granted because it is always there. It’s not obvious if you can’t listen deeply.
• Experiencing a place for the first time and thinking of it as tourism of sound.
• How it takes practice to train your ears to notice things when you walk into a room.
• Being filled with wonder when hearing things for the first time.
• A great conductor has an ability to hear what is happening with several musicians simultaneously.
• How good acoustics has an element of personal taste similar to wine tasting.
• Providing a sound experience for people through acoustics and a good environment for sound.
• Using white noise or introducing extra noise to an office can make things better.
• Hard surfaces reflect sound effectively. Foam and soft furnishings can absorb sound.
• The lost listener is not hearing you or engaging at all.
• Cameron feels he is the shrewd listener, because he likes solving problems.
• Understanding where a sound is coming from by noticing the time that it arrives at your ear.

Links and Resources:

• Cameron Hough on LinkedIn
• Arup
• Brisbane Philharmonic Orchestra

Quotes:

“Once your ears are open, you realize how much more is out there” - Cameron

"I would really love if people had more awareness of sound.” -Cameron 

Want to create a big impact? Subscribe to the Deep Listening podcast and never miss an episode.

If you have any suggestions, questions or recommendations for people to interview for podcast please email podcast@oscartrimboli.com.

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Sophie Weldon is a strategic storytelling and community engagement specialist. She is an experienced public speaker, filmmaker and recognised leader and innovator in her field. Sophie began her social action journey at 14 after she had a deep listening
experience with a former refugee named Adut. She believes stories have the power to connect, heal and transform us.

Stories also capture an organisation’s purpose, align employees to this purpose, increase productivity and act as a medium for communicating values & beliefs. In short, stories help us belong. Sophie has worked with key social and private sector organisations before starting her own business Humankind Enterprises.

Humankind Enterprises, established in 2015, is a social enterprise with a mission to connect people, one story at a time. They develop projects and platforms that harness the power of storytelling to create greater connection, acceptance and resilience in
Australian communities. Today, we talk about how listening is a practice and a discipline. What can the next generation and the last generation teach you about listening?

Today’s Topics:

• How Sophie is an amazing story collector, and how she has created a community of story collectors through social enterprise.
• Creating a listening culture across generations by having youth of this generation collect stories from an older generation.
• Sophie shares the role that her grandmother played in her development and journey.
• How a refugee from Sudan named Adut influenced the way Sophie shares stories and makes them heard.
• What compelled and motivated Sophie and listening with her heart.
• How just listening made a difference in Adut’s life. Through this listening, the deepest friendship of Sophie’s life was created.
• Enriching the society of the older population and creating connections.
• Powerful questions about past, present, and future that unlock the story.
• What have your strengths and successes in life been? This is a social starter question to celebrate the successes of life.
• Struggling with unreconciled stories and creating a meaningful experience.
• How do you want your family to remember you? What is your legacy?
• Sophie likes questions of the moment and stories of the present.
• Moments of freedom and beautiful reminders of hope.
• The role of silence in collecting stories.
• The story booths and pods are popup video booths that they bring into organizations, and people can use them to record stories on their own.
• Prompting with story starters based on the organisation's values.
• Helping companies to better humanize what their values are through the use of stories.
• Helping people to feel connected and heard and using micro moments to record stories and beautiful moments.
• Start with your own story, your family’s story, and your community’s story.
• It starts with each of us and treating people as you want to be treated.

Links and Resources:

• Humankind Enterprises
• StoryPod
• Sophie Weldon on LinkedIn
• @SophieWeldon2 on Twitter

Quotes:

If you want to know about listening, start to listen all around you. Sophie Weldon

There is so much we can’t see until we look for it. The same goes for listening. Sophie Weldon

My grandmother taught me to listen with my heart. She used to say the heart is the heart of the mother. Sophie Weldon

Want to create a big impact? Subscribe to the Deep Listening podcast and never miss an episode.

If you have any suggestions, questions or recommendations for people to interview for podcast please email podcast@oscartrimboli.com.

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Anthony Weeks is an illustrator, documentary filmmaker, and visual storyteller based in San Francisco. He has more than 18 years of experience working with senior-level product and strategy development teams to think visually and turn data into stories.

In the role of public listener and illustrator, Anthony collaborates with project teams to create visually rich chronicles and murals of conversations in real time. The visual storytelling facilitates dialogue, engages participation, clarifies vision, and animates the process of ideation.

In this episode, Anthony explains how he prepares to listen and the role of subjectivity in listening. He provides some very practical tips on what to do when you get distracted whilst listening.

Today’s Topics:

• Anthony is a graphic facilitator who listens to teams and groups and then creates a visual chronicle of the conversation.
• The role of meaning and how to think about listening in capital letters.
• Listen carefully as he talks about his capital S and the role of subjectivity in listening.
• Explore with him as he talks about the role of silence in a one-on-on dialogue.
• How silence can honor a room in a group context and give the room an opportunity to think and reflect on where they are at.
• His capability to listen for meaning and bring it to life in his visual artefacts.
• Preparing for the day ahead. Anthony has had several repeat clients who know why he is there.
• When working with a client for the first time, he gets in the room early and positions himself so he will be present but not intrusive.
• His role of listening dictates where he sets up his work area. After a brief introduction, he listens and creates drawings.
• Anthony claims his subjectivity as a listener, and he hopes he is hired for that.
• What is not being said can have many meanings, but we aren’t talking about it because of culture, safety, or it’s a painful subject.
• The challenges of getting into the mental and emotional space of listening.
• People talk about mindfulness a lot. For Anthony, mindfulness is meditation everyday, every morning, and before every meeting to create space to listen in a dedicated way.
• Appreciating and honoring the facts that we can all be good listeners.
• An example of listening from the perspective of a 911 operator. Transactional listening and recognizing oneself as a listener.
• The importance of coming up with a language around listening.

Links and Resources:

• Dogpatch Films
• @Weeksonian on Twitter

Quotes:

“There are threads and connective tissue that pulls the conversation together beyond just data point.” Anthony Weeks

“The best compliment I get is when somebody says that I really captured what they were trying to say.” Anthony Weeks

Want to create a big impact? Subscribe to the Deep Listening podcast and never miss an episode.

If you have any suggestions, questions or recommendations for people to interview for podcast please email podcast@oscartrimboli.com.

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Cath Mundy’s work composing original music for theatre has explored diverse ground, including sacredCOWs, The Quivering, which won a Green Room Award for Outstanding Sound Design / Music Score 2007.

In 1996 with British singer-songwriter (& husband) Jay Turner, Cath formed acoustic-music duo Mundy-Turner, performing as a vocalist, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist (violin, piano, ukulele, percussion).

Over two decades, they released seven albums, their debut High Life winning a Queensland Recording Association Award 1999 for Best Folk/Ethnic Album. They have toured many countries performing at festivals, venues and events, including supporting The Corrs and Fairport Convention.

Cath conducts three community choirs: Freedom Train, Mixed Beans multicultural choir and With One Voice Brisbane. She witnesses first-hand every week the power that group-singing has to make positive change in individual lives and to create healthier, more connected communities. Cath is passionate about empowering all people to reclaim their human right to sing.

Today’s Topics:

• What audiences can learn from a musician and a customer.
• How we are listening on a number of levels.
• It’s a skill to listen and train as a choir. They listen to themselves, what’s around them, and the whole group.
• The difference between local listening, neighborhood listening, and regional listening.
• How a conductor not only listens to the choir, but they also listen to the audience.  
• The importance of relaxing. Getting people to play to help them relax.
• Visual cues and people’s breathing. Changing the shape of their mouths and helping them hear the difference.
• Shining eyes and an inner smile are signs of being engaged.
• A surprise visit from John Farnham and the Choir of Hard Knocks.
• Hearing an intensity of motion beyond the sound.
• The conductor’s role listening to the audience. The importance of engagement.
• It can be difficult without the visual, but you can feel their energy.
• Smiles, brightness of eyes, and an open body facing towards you signals engagement.
• Making creative choices as opposed to mistakes.
• The importance of eye contact especially with connecting with the choir and keeping them focused.
• Reconnecting as a lost listener.
• Silence is important. Not forgetting to pay attention to the silence.
• Paying attention to the space and where we breath.
• Silence can be difficult for some people. A sign of a good friendship is comfortably sitting in silence. Where more emotion gets heard.

Links and Resources:

• Mundy - Turner
• Freedom Train
• Cath Mundy on Facebook
• @cathjay on Twitter
• Benjamin Zander
• You’re the Voice John Farnham
• The Choir of Hard Knocks

Quotes:

I like to draw my attention to those moments of silence. They might be really small ones, but they are just as important as the notes we are singing. - Cath

The contrast between sound and silence is where all that interesting interplay happens. - Cath

They were so totally tuned into each other that I felt a total alignment of their sound. - Cath

Want to create a big impact? Subscribe to the Deep Listening podcast and never miss an episode.

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Cai Kjaer CEO of Swoop Analytics explains how leaders and employees can listen to each other across issues, departments, and across the world. Today, we explore beyond the one on one dialogue. We also explore beyond team dialogue. We dive into listening at scale including thousands of more of conversations simultaneously.

Cai Kjaer is an extraordinary leader in this field. His company Swoop Analytics focuses on the power of collaboration and people networks to get work done. They are a consulting company that maps organizational networks to find the most valuable metrics to drive collaborative business performance.

Today’s Topics:

• The difference between the way men and women network.
• How everyone in the warehouse went to a guy named Elvis for help, yet it was completely unknown to upper management.
• There is no simple manual way to get this information sent to you.
• Cai shares how he got involved surveying people about who they contact to get work done. This eventually led to the founding of Swoop Analytics.
• Yammer is an enterprise network where people can collaborate.
• They took all of their IP and built the platform about relationship insights to build a profile around collaboration habits.
• If you have an enterprise social platform is make yourself visible and start to read.
• Having biases and seeing many sides.
• Collecting data across multiple industries.
• 5 archetypes: observer, broadcaster, responder, catalyst, and engagers.
• Engagers are most aspirational as listeners.
• The difference between listening and hearing.
• Being authentic in the way you interact with people.
• Killing myths and conversation at scale.
• Pay attention, look at people, and stay in the moment.
• How men and women play different roles in communication,
• Women are better at interaction with women and with men.
• Men don’t interact as much with women than they do with men.
• Gender issues and diversity in Silicon Valley.
• Forming more relationships with women and listening and engaging.
• Appreciating the role of women in a networked world.
• Ask questions. Listen and ask followups. Don’t get into the mindset of just telling.

Links and Resources:

• Swoop Analytics
• Cai Kjaer LinkedIn
• @caikjaer on Twitter
• Yammer
• Facebook Workplace

Quotes:

“We looked at gender data and women are better at interacting than men are.” Cai Kjaer

“Men are good at establishing new relationships from a transactional basis to get work done then move on.” Cai Kjaer

“Senior leaders have no clue about who are the ones that really carry the most influence in their organizations.” Cai Kjaer

Want to create a big impact? Subscribe to the Deep Listening podcast and never miss an episode.

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Lisa Lockland-Bell is a Leader in Vocal Communication. Her ability to Diagnose, Heal and Reveal the potential that lies within each human voice is Spectacular. A respected Keynote Speaker, Vocal Coach and Facilitator: With over three decades of experience, her unique perspective on vocal communication forms the foundation for her skill based speaking and training programs. Highlighting the importance of using your Voice for Positioning | Impact | Influence. Her strategies are innovative yet simple, with a clear framework that are unique to Speaking within the New World.

Why?

Lisa has studied vocal communication with the world’s best, performed as an opera singer and coached internationally for more than 30 years. The true richness in Lisa’s communication mastery comes from her profound battle with cancer not once, but twice, arousing a deeper exploration of how human beings communicate. With more than 20 years of research into alternative therapies and understanding of the inner voice, Lisa has combined her skill-based training with elements of survival, reinvention and core values, making her the expert on both the internal and external voices.

Now, passionate about building confidence within the individual and organisations: Lisa’s life work is to Change Results and lives one tone at a time. From tweaking your embouchure to getting the most from your resonating cavities, Lisa knows the human voice intimately. Now, she distils this knowledge into useful communication skills training. Whether it is an intimate one-on-one negotiation or working with a room of staff. Lisa has the knowledge to improve your vocal intelligence, presentation, persuasion, negotiation and public speaking skills.

How?

Lisa knows your voice has the power to break a heart, seal the deal or change the world. But, do you? From the first day Lisa started speaking and coaching, the hearts and minds of the people she works with have been the centre of her business model.Her strategic approach helps you release a restricted voice, soften a forceful tone, strengthen a timid response, make a deeper connection and break down the barriers to effective communication.

Today’s Topics:

• The importance of listening to yourself first.
• Attaching an internal voice to your external voice.
• How to listen and learn voice, listening, and emotional intelligence from an Opera singer.
• Remaining present on stage and bringing magic to the audience and understanding the conductor intimately.
• Being 125% ready or insecurity will step in and create tension in the body.
• Being intensely present, yet human and have humility.
• The conductor can hear the movement of the audience and tell if they are getting bored.
• Voice coaches help people have control over their voice and communicate on different levels.
• Six steps for improving your voice.
• Shift the mindset to understand what you are doing when speaking.
• You can change the way that you structure sound.
• Physical responses when listening to a voice which comes from vibration.
• Speaking with belief and leaving no room for interpretation.
• Synchronizing breathing for deeper listening and understanding.
• Breathing deeply and feeling intake of breath and bringing your brain into focus.
• Indicators of what is not being said such as gestures and body language.
• How deeply someone can listen, and the Armenian women speaking about Lisa.
• She was able to understand by observing and measuring the space between words.
• Lisa had learned all of the cues of timing and inflection and understood that they were talking about her.
• She is very attuned to what people speaking other languages need to speak English.
• An accent doesn’t hinder your ability to communicate it’s your intention and inflection.
• Feeling the pain and having empathy while listening and developing techniques and strategies to help younger people through the process of struggle.
• Asking questions about the lives of older people. Life attaches itself to the voice.
• For both men and women the emotion is just under the surface. For men, it is what is coming out of their mouths as opposed to tone.
• For women, listen with empathy.
• Learning to trust your gut and then daring to give it a voice.
• Being brave and doing what you are meant to do on this Earth.
• Listening for emotion with your right ear.

Links and Resources:

• Lisa Lockland-Bell
• Lisa Lockland-Bell on LinkedIn
• Lisa Lockland-Bell on Facebook
• @LLocklandBell on Twitter

Quotes:

“I’m listening for the nuances and inflections. I’m listening for when you make a statement are you actually landing the voice with the inflection because that gives me a feel of whether you know what you are talking about.” Lisa Lockland Bell

“I’m also listening for the way that you deliver and the timing and the cadence.” Lisa Lockland Bell

“There’s a space between the words that changes everything. Notice the speed. Notice the space.” Lisa Lockland Bell

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Broadcaster and Journalist Tracey Holmes explains how to listen across continents, cultures and context. We learn how to understand the role of preparation in bringing you into a state of complete listening to the speaker. For three decades, Tracey Holmes has been a journalist & broadcaster covering international news, current affairs and global sport.

Her job has taken her around the globe, several times; she's lived and worked for extended periods in Hong Kong, Beijing, Abu Dhabi & Dubai for some of the world's most recognised organisations such as the ABC, SBS, CNN, China Central Television & Dubai Eye.

She is an award winning interviewer, a published author and an educator. Currently Tracey works for the ABC presenting a daily international news & current affairs program and a weekly sports politics program, The Ticket.

She is also senior lecturer in journalism at UTS, Sydney; senior mentor for the IOC Young Reporters program; and trainer for the joint ABC-Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade international program 'WINS'. Tracey is a board member of Volleyball Australia and The Greg Chappell Foundation & is an Ambassador for the Australian Museum and the Sydney Institute of Marine Science.

Today’s Topics:

• Listening to yourself and how a journalist prepares for an interview.
• How Tracey uses all of her senses to gauge how her interviews are going.
• The importance of asking others about who you are interviewing and how those perspectives will help you listen more deeply.
• Digging as deeply as Tracey can and then getting down to the essence of the interview.
• The life in the day of a broadcast journalist and understand the techniques required to stay focused.
• How to keep going when things don’t always go as you plan.
• What Asia can teach us all about listening.
• Watching what people do when learning a new language.
• The things that are said and the things that are unsaid.
• Listening with open eyes and open ears and an open heart.
• With radio people listen deeply and open up.
• How Tracey’s family went to South Africa to go on a surfing trip.
• How International journalists were more about humanity than economics at the Olympics.
• Making people from different places feel more comfortable.
• Going into meditation when not thinking about exploring.
• The importance of language and its syntax and context.
• Listening to history and art to connect better to the people and the culture.
• The role of learning from other cultures and the aboriginal nations.
• How her husbands grandfather was chained to a tree for using his native language.
• The Aboriginal people are good listeners and use space between words well.
• The importance of slowing down and listening completely.
• Being comfortable with silence.
• The story of Clinton Pryor and his 6000 KM trek across Australia.
• He walked from Perth to Canberra to meet Malcolm Turnbull.
• The importance of listening and trying to understand. You don’t always have to have an answer.
• How there is a lot of discussion in the middle that people will listen to.
• Using caution when describing people as role models.
• Listening for meaning and being genuinely curious.
• Tracey carries a microphone and records people who she thinks are interesting.
• Tracey’s interview with a homeless man who had a story.
• He shared why he was there, the problems in Australia, and that he worried about the same things we all worry about.
• You can look at everybody and take something away that makes you better and the overall picture better.
• Meditation and understanding what someone is going through.
• Going on a journey and then bringing it back.
• How Tracey works through the conversations beforehand.

Links and Resources:

• Clinton Pryor
• News Radio

Quotes:

“With your ears you are not just listening. You are also seeing and feeling.” Tracey Holmes

“I can tell when something is gripping because the people around stop doing their work and start listening.” Tracey Holmes

“With all of your senses, you have to do all things.” Tracey Holmes

Want to create a big impact? Subscribe to the Deep Listening podcast and never miss an episode.

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World class educator John Corrigan explains how to help children learn to listen. Learn the impact of your listening effectiveness when you notice the familiar and the different.

John Corrigan is a world-class thought leader in education. John is an expert at listening in many dimensions, but the most powerful is as an educator. Today, we have a powerful conversation about helping children to focus and listen, not only during school  but for the rest of their lives.  I also share a fascinating lecture on effective listening and children.

John is the founder and Principal of Group 8 Education. He specializes in helping individuals increase their effectiveness in the world around them. The steps involved include shifting our attention to rewire our brains, focusing on the wellbeing of others, and leading teams to empower and transform. John has used his education and background to implement change management in organizations and help education shape our capacity to engage in the world around us.

Today’s Topics:

• John grew up in Manchester and his father was a headmaster at a school.
• John got a degree in mathematics, then joined the parachute regiment, he then became a wireline logging engineer in South America and around Europe.
• His thoughts about listening began to emerge as he was trying to learn French.
• He learned Spanish in South America.
• When he moved to Italy he focused on listening intently when Italian people spoke. This actually worked and he was able to learn Italian.
• When he listened he tried to identify the 400 main words of the language.
• He picked up the gestures and face expressions while listening intently.
• He pays attention to everything and his full attention is on the other person.
• Looking at someone's eyes can help focus attention.
• John moved to Sydney and started working in a change management program.
• Then he worked for an environmental group.
• He wanted to work in social change and stumbled upon education as his calling.
• An extraordinary teacher who understands how to listen can impact a child for their entire life.
• By listening fully I was able to encourage my son to modify his behavior for success in school and life.
• Listening by paying full attention. This makes the speaker feel you care about them and they should care about you in their response.
• Using the familiar form of listening. To learn language effectively use the seeking difference mode.
• Our brains aren’t fully developed until our twenties.
• The childhood mind is based on the more primitive parts of the brain.
• The adult mind is based on the whole brain and is self aware and can manage impulses.
• Three phases of education models. Education leads the child out of the childhood mind to the adult mind.
• Allowing the childhood mind to exist in parallel with the emerging adult mind.
• The childhood mind fades away and a young adult emerges.
• Asking different questions based on the model.

Links and Resources:

• Are We Listening To Our Children?
• Group 8 Education

Quotes:

“I was interested in organizations where the relationship between the employee and the customer where a large part of the value.” John Corrigan

“I interviewed a number of teachers, and found a teacher who left a lifelong impact. I discovered that she was listening fully and not judging while responding with kindness and compassion.” John Corrigan

“Outstanding teachers listen and pay full attention.” John Corrigan

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Bronwyn Law is a family advisor in the funeral industry, and today we explore the role of empathy in listening. Bronwyn deals with conversations at the end of people’s lives. This role has given her an extraordinary sense of empathy and lack of assumptions. She has to display absolute presence when helping families make the difficult decisions when emotions are high and people are vulnerable.  This was probably one of the most transformational interviews that I have been a part of.

Today’s Topics:

• Bronwyn shares how she does her job and creates space for people to decide what they would like to do.
• How Bronwyn knows the pain and depth of sadness of losing a loved one.
• Bronwyn shares her childhood and background and how she lost her brother when he was 15.
• Bronwyn also shares her cancer diagnoses when she was 14 and how it was a life changing experience that helped her mature.
• How Bronwyn became involved in the Make a Wish Foundation. She also shares her life changing experience in Nepal.
• How Bronwyn’s brother seemed to be doing well before his suicide.
• The role of silence and the questions that Bronwyn answers for people.
• The importance of not only listening to the words, but also understanding the meaning of the words as expressed by that person.
• Doing your best is the last thing you can do in the person’s honor.
• The balance between it being about the person and for yourself as well.
• How it is important to listen from a place of real genuine interest.
• The opportunity of hearing the story of what people have been through.
• Being present with people as they make necessary decisions to remember their loved one.
• How the death of a spouse after a long marriage of 50 plus years can be very emotional.
• Bronwyn is all four listening types. We can all be a lost listener when we are preoccupied. There is a real art to being present.
• Always take a deep breath before walking into a room and meeting with someone.
• The 5Rhythms dynamic movement process and Gabrielle Roth.
• How everything we do in life leaves a rhythm.
• Listening is not about you, it is all about the other person.
• The importance of building a connection, dropping assumptions, and being present and available.

Links and Resources:

• Make-A-Wish Foundation Australia
• 5Rhythms Gabrielle Roth

Quotes:

“I can sit in a room with someone and be genuinely grateful that I am not in the spot that they are in.” Bronwyn Law

“What I enjoy about my job and what gives me satisfaction is creating space for people to consider what they would like to do.” Bronwyn Law

“When you meet with someone there are ways to communicate other than words.” Bronwyn Law

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Could you take a photo of yourself with the book and email it to podcast@oscartrimboli.com  with the Subject Line “Cover”? 

I’ve set up a registration page for all these events so you can register for the rest of the year if you visit https://www.oscartrimboli.com/communityofpractice/ 

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Please send an email to podcast@oscartrimboli.com with the Subject Line “Book Club“, and a recommendation for a book you would like the group to explore.

We’d love to add yours, send to podcast@oscartrimboli.com with the Subject Line “Hello World”

Send an email to podcast@oscartrimboli.com and put in the Subject Line “Interview” if you’d like to be interviewed for the Deep Listening Podcast from the perspective of the Deep Listening Ambassador.

If you’re interested in going deeper, then send me an email podcast@oscartrimboli.com with the Subject Line “Deeper” and what you took away from this next conversation.  

It is so important to be able to focus when listening for an extended time. Adam Purcell shares his unique perspective on this as an air traffic controller. He also shares how his career path was discovered through a World War II log book, and how it changed the entire course of his life.

Adam Purcell is an enroute air traffic controller in the Melbourne Air Traffic Services Centre. The aviation bug bit at a young age, while Adam was growing up in the NSW Southern Highlands. He Learned to fly shortly after finishing high school and holds a Bachelor of Aviation from the University of New South Wales, and he worked in airline operations in Sydney before moving into air traffic control.

A qualified controller for five years, he has recently returned to operational work after completing an 18-month secondment as an instructor, teaching trainees at the Air Traffic Control training facility in Melbourne.

Outside of work, Adam has a keen interest in WWII Air Force history, and he has interviewed many veterans of the strategic night bombing campaign for a UK-based archive. He is also a keen photographer.

Today’s Topics:

• What a day in the life of an air traffic controller is like.
• The importance of the read back and actively listening.
• Overcoming internal and external distractions.
• Keeping instructions straight forward and slowing down with International pilots.
• How old memories can spark a tangent and those are the stories that trigger another story.
• The importance of longer pauses and asking fewer questions to get more out of an interview.
• The role of silence can be awkward, but it is also an important interview element.
• Being aware of your audience when you look at them and how visual cues may not mean what you first think they mean.
• How recall takes time.
• The lost listener who moves on during the read backs and not monitoring what he is hearing.
• How there are consequences of not listening for air traffic controllers and the pilots and planes.
• The power of high standards for listening.

Links and Resources:

• Adam Purcell International Bomber Command Centre
• Something Very Big

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In this episode of Deep Listening, we have the opportunity to listen to Eva Hussain who is an accredited NAATI translator and foreign interpreter. She is also the founder and CEO of Polaron a language services provider. The mission of Polaron is to transform the language services sector and be the leading authority on European citizenship worldwide. The company has seen steady growth since Eva has been managing it.

Eva’s voluntary roles include founding member of Australasian Association of Language Companies, deputy president of the Australian Society of Polish Jews and secretary of Polish Community Services of Victoria. Eva is originally from Poland and wants to solve complex communication problems between different cultures and geographical areas. She speaks 6 or 7 languages, but English and Polish are her strongest languages. Listen in as Eva shares her story and communication philosophy.

Today’s Topics:

• Eva always wanted to immigrate to Australia, but started out in France first.
• Her first few years in Australia were incredibly difficult even though it was her desire to integrate.
• Interpreters are actors who act out other people’s words. What comes out of the mouth of an interpreter needs to represent the intent and meaning.
• It’s like a loop where the language is stored on the interpreter’s brain and then transformed into a different language and conveyed to the listener.
• There are no opinions. To practice interpreting watch the news and pause it for 30 seconds and then repeat what was just said.
• Preparation for interpreting includes self care and preparing oneself on an emotional level.
• Some interpretation jobs can be quite difficult emotionally, such as when someone is in a life and death situation.
• Acting professionally at all times no matter how difficult it is.
• Breathing techniques can be used to calm the interpreter down.
• Being assertive and asking for breaks is also important.
• The importance of understanding context and getting what is unsaid.
• In difficult situations the best thing that an interpreter can do is to do justice to the words. Be very conscious of not being judgemental.
• The four villains of listening are the lost listener, the interrupting listener, the shrewd listener, and the dramatic listener. For Eva, the interrupter is the worst.
• Give people from other cultures space to get their point across.

Links and Resources:

NAATI

Polaron

Eva Hussain facebook

Eva Hussain LinkedIn

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Today, I have a conversation with acoustic engineer and soundscape designer Mitch Allen. He has over 10 years experience as an acoustic engineer and is currently spearheading the business offering of Soundscape Design for Arup within the Australasian region. He is also the founder of One Two Studios a music production company that specializes in bespoke royalty free music. Mitch has been commissioned for various local and International soundscape installations, and he is passionate about sound design in urban environments.

In this episode, he takes us to the jungles of Bali to illustrate that listening is not something we just do with our ears, it is a multi-sensory experience. Mitch shares the dimensions of the role of a soundscape designer. He talks about the differences between creating soundscapes in modern industrial environments and yoga studios. This is an amazing show, not only because of what Mitch says, but how he says it.

Today’s Topics:

• Acoustic engineers solve acoustic challenges of a place or area.
• Mitch solves problems such as mitigating noise or vibration.
• Mitch likes to create a desirable sound experience and that is why he started calling what he actually does as soundscape design.
• Restaurants are often challenging environments for communication.
• These areas need to have a positive soundscape, but it is hard to satisfy everyone’s desires.
• A desirable soundscape is attached to the intent of the purpose of the area.
• For the Vivid Sydney project Mitch took sounds from the Harbor and transformed them into sounds of the future.
• Mitch shares how the yoga studio sound he designed needed a hum and he used a 40 hertz sound of a crystal himalayan
• Mitch had a challenging yoga studio soundscape design where the owners wanted a 40 hertz hum playing throughout the area, but it didn’t sound right.
• Mitch solved the problem by using a recording from a crystal Himalayan singing bowl and adjusting the frequency.
• Sound is just a form of energy in a vibrational frequency in a range that we can hear.
• The frequencies are the oscillating waves or vibration in the air.
• Our ears pick up the vibration and it is converted to sound energy.
• Noise is unwanted sound. Sound is something that you can choose to hear or ignore.
• Using natural soundscapes as opposed to sound masking in an office environment to minimize the distractions.
• To prepare for listening it is a good idea to remove or be aware of the internal dialogue.
• Embracing the full body experience of listening or the sounds that Mitch feels as he experiences the world.

Links and Resources:

• One Two Studios
• Mitch Allen LinkedIn
• Mitch Allen Blog
• Loftus Precinct
• Vivid Sydney

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