One of the interesting ironies of great speaking is that you need to be great listener first. The best speakers have a strong sense of their audience and their needs.
How do you get to understand that audience? You listen to them.  Before you speak, you seek opportunities to discuss their needs with them so that you can tailor message to meet their needs.
I ran across a nice blog post recently on the Four Styles of Listening, posted at Say It Just Right . That’s the blog of communications coach Joan Curtis. In the post she explains that there are four listening styles:
- The compassionate listener
- The too busy to listen listener
- The trees for the forest listener
- The it’s me listener.
Which are you?
