Deep Listening - Impact beyond words - Oscar Trimboli

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. Listen For Free

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. Listen For Free

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. Listen For Free

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. Listen For Free

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. Listen For Free

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. Listen For Free

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. Listen For Free

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. Listen For Free

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 listeningexperience 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 inAustralian 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. Listen For Free

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. Listen For Free