Listening

Abstract

We have all met them:

• The person who looks at you with glazed eyes, so intent on working out what he’s going to say next that he hears nothing you say and cuts you off in mid-sentence to say something that bears very little relationship to what you have just been saying…

• The manager who says: ‘Never hesitate to come and see me if you’ve got any problems,’ and when you do make an appointment to see him, he spends all the time talking about his problems…

• The student who complains about every lecture, switches off after about the first five minutes, barely stays awake and says everything is boring and a waste of time…

• The person next to you at the conference, who, as the last speaker sits down, says: ‘Well, that was pretty awful. The man didn’t know what he was talking about and anyway I can’t stand people who wear handkerchieves in their top pocket!’

… perhaps you are one of those people!