listening SUPERPOWER podcast

Hello everyone. My name is Raquel Ark. I am the host of the Listen in with Raquel Ark podcast, and this podcast has been around, I can't believe it, for over three years, and I'm coming up to the 50th podcast. Started as a hobby and has turned into a passion. Originally, when I started the podcast, I was having amazing conversations with authors, leaders, with scientists about listening because I was trying to discover the superpower of listening, and I thought if I could bring this conversation and record it and share it with others these things that I'm learning, Maybe that will help catalyze this listing movement that so many of us are trying to support. So the name came through a little collaboration I had with a girlfriend of mine over a cup of coffee where she's like, 'Oh, how about listen in.' Listen in is about listening in to a conversation. It's about. Listening in that self-reflection where you go inward and reflect on what you're discovering, but it's also about listing, and that's how we came up with the name in the beginning. But what we're realizing after this, after three years, is when you do a search on Listen in', there are so many listen-ins now that there weren't. Back then, and it's not always easy to find. So in the new rebranding, we're gonna look at a title and some branding that will make it clearer so that more people can reach this podcast and so that we can catalyze even more listening together. I hope you stay with me. We're gonna keep doing interviews. If you know of people who you would love to have interviewed who would be great for this podcast, please reach out. If you love the podcast and you want more people to become better listeners, then please share and rate the podcast. Anything you can do to help catalyze a listening movement together would be awesome. In the meantime, keep doing your theme, keep listing having fun, and you'll hear from me very soon.

How can we listen well when we have limited time and high demands? This is an important question across all types of organizations. And especially in the medical environment, have a potential life and death answer. The ability of health providers to listen is key to enhancing the patient experience and giving quality health care. Dr. Krishna Naineni (Nigh- Nay- Knee) is a General Practitioner (GP) in the southeast of England. He is a Member of the Royal College of General Practitioners and a faculty at Brighton and Sussex Medical School. He is a passionate medical educator with interest in listening-centered clinical communication. Currently, he is serving as a Chair of International Listening Association's Healthcare team. As a Certified ECHO Listening Practitioner, Krishna is encouraging healthcare professionals to establish intelligent listening units in their respective workplaces. He is a co-founder of Glocal Academy which has been instrumental in delivering custom-made listening-centered clinical communication skills training programs to healthcare professionals and organizations India and UK. In this episode, Dr. Naineni unravels his own discoveries, difficulties, and experiences in clinical listening. He shares how transformative it is to truly listen to patients and colleagues despite the constraints of time. He also shares the techniques he uses to reframe his thinking for effective diagnosis' and a better doctor-patient relationships. "We all have the capacity to listen well. Believe in the magic of listening. The act of listening is the greatest gift that you can give." - Dr. Krishna Naineni Listen In Notes 00:00 - The power of listening. Dr. Krishna Shares how his communication struggles propelled him to work on his listening skills. 05:10 - The role of listening in the medical healthcare system. 06:42 - The constraints of time vs. the optimized listening. Dr. Krishna shares how one mindset shift can make it possible to provide a better patient experience. 09:35 - The journey for self-improvement and internal work. 16:24 - The hunger to learn. Dr. Krishna reveals how teaching in the medical industry made him see the new generation of doctors' tenacity to improve on listening. 19:04 - Cultivating doctor-patient relationships through listening. Dr. Krishna reveals the effects of letting the patients share more during the consultation. 33:00 - Team Rambo Journal Club. Dr. Krishna shares the group that they made to support medical students in healthcare communication or listening. 39:00 - "Negation" as a tool. Dr. Krishna shares one of his learnings from J. Krishnamurti, "Through NEGATION, that thing which alone is the positive comes into being." Key Takeaways: (on the impact of slowing down) "When I slowed down, I was more present. And people were more forthcoming with their concerns…with the real problems and real issues. And they were more engaging with the things that I was sharing with them."- Dr. Krishna Naineni "To work in 21st, dynamic healthcare setting…you need to have an element of bravery. You need to be courageous to defy the challenges. And most importantly, the openness. So R-esponsibility, A-daptability, M-otivation, B-ravery, and O-penness becomes RAMBO."- Dr. Krishna Naineni "If you want to listen to the person in front of you, you must stop listening to you."- Dr. Krishna Naineni Resources and People Mentioned: On God by J. Krishnamurti https://store.kfoundation.org/books/books-by-j-krishnamurti/series-theme-books/on-god The Awakening of Intelligence by J. Krishnamurti https://www.amazon.com/Awakening-Intelligence-Jiddu-Krishnamurti/dp/0060648341 Connect with Dr. Krishna Naineni E-mail: glocalacademyuk@gmail.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/glocalacademyuk/ Connect with Raquel Ark: https://listeningalchemy.com/ Mobile: + 491732340722 contact@listeningalchemy.com LinkedIn: Raquel Ark

How can listening to yourself be an ultimate superpower to live the life you want? Robbie Swale is a leadership coach, author, and podcaster, whose work focuses on creativity, coaching, and leading with honor. His time is split between his coaching business, writing, and various associate work. He supports coaches to grow their businesses and impact and thrive as people, via a community for coaches and a podcast. An ability to see things differently, understand different perspectives and see the truth in the world without the fear to do or say the right thing is the reason why coaches choose to collaborate with him. In this episode, Robbie shares his journey on how he developed the 12-minute method while discovering how listening can be used as a superpower when it comes to truly live the life we really want. He also shares about the struggles and resistance he has overcome to be able to make an impact through his writing and how this helps him fuel his creative impulses. Robbie also emphasizes the importance of consistency in building good habits. He realized how writing consistently for 12 minutes over time developed a practice of listening to that surprised him. And it helped him get things done and move him forward, even amidst his fears. Robbie is the author of How to START when you're STUCK and How to KEEP GOING when you want to GIVE UP, as part of a series that have come out of his 12 Minute Method. These books provide practical inspiration to get your idea off the ground and help you create good habits and stay focused - even when it's hard. "6 years of creating, sharing, and of consistency. I've never put my mind to something, created a habit, and kept it before this. And now I know I'm somebody who can do that, and that's transformational." - Robbie Swale Listen IN Notes: 5:54 - How listening and writing have impacted Robbie's life 7:06 - "Whose words were those?" - prompt for practicing self-listening, Listen to your inner voice and ask a few questions to deepen your understanding. 14:33 - All about listening to your creative impulse and listening to yourself 25:19 - Listening made simple: listening to ourselves in relation to developing confidence 28:49 - Getting to know the voices in your head. To practice that self-listening, and writing whether it's for yourself or for somebody else. To practice self-listening and writing from a place of clarity, incisiveness, and compassion. 37: 47 - All about the act of inertia, creating a change in our organization for the better, be working just a little bit on a project that you think would really serve the customers that aren't being served in this way. 38:06 - The impact of doubt on the experience of regret. Regret can feel overwhelming, but it is worth pausing to ask yourself: is my current thought pattern feeling like regret, what can I do about it? 42:42- The importance of getting yourself off the hook from all the outcomes that you think you want because you can't predict creativity, change, or organization. Key Takeaways: "The good rule of thumb is that the places where we feel the most resistance, the most fear, where we do the most procrastination are the most important places for our soul's evolution." - The War of Art by Steven Pressfield "Everybody has the voices that tell them, "You're not the person to do this." One of the games, the way to deal with that, is you don't have to listen to those voices…because we have some voices in our heads that may come from fear and mostly that fear isn't real. "- Robbie Swale "If you write how you think, then as you practice writing, you get better at that, then you also get better at thinking. And if you write how you speak, then you also get better at speaking." - Robbie Swale Those conversations (with listening) give me amazing energy. - Robbie Swale When I am writing, I feel like I am listening beyond myself. - Robbie Swale A small amount of time once a week has a much bigger impact than I expected. - Robbie Swale What would be exactly enough time and not a second more to make some progress? - Robbie Swale Notes/Mentions: Raquel Ark's featured interview at The Coach's Journey Podcast – Listening Alchemy And The Gold Beyond Words Raquel's interview with mutual friend Colin Smith, Stop doing listening and start being listening Jim Dethmer, Kaley Klemp, and Diana Chapman's "15 commitments of Conscious Leadership" Steven Pressfield's "War of Art" Robert Holden Connect with Robbie Swale: Website: https://www.robbieswale.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/RobbieSwale LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robbieswale/ Podcast: https://anchor.fm/12-minute-method Connect with Raquel Ark: www.listeningalchemy.com Mobile: + 491732340722 contact@listeningalchemy.com LinkedIn

How can you get more value through team collaboration and understanding what your customer really needs? Teresa Torres is an internationally acclaimed author, speaker, and coach who helps teams gain valuable insights from their customer interviews, run effective product experiments, and drive product outcomes that create value for their customers and their businesses. She teaches teams how to connect the dots between their research activities and their product decisions, inspiring confidence that they are on the right track. In this episode, Teresa shares her experience about how listening is filtered by what we hear based on our past experience and knowledge. If you are working on a team to listen to customer needs, it's only natural that we have different perceptions of what happened in a customer interview. Instead of discussing who is right and who is wrong, what if everyone saw one piece of the puzzle. Instead, how can we listen to and synthesize information in a structured way to create products the customers will really use? Teresa discusses the importance of listening in the context of business as she relates it to the work she does at Product Talk, where she helps teams uncover their customers' underlying needs through story-based interviewing. Teresa is the author of Continuous Discovery Habits, the product trio's guide to a structured and sustainable approach to continuous discovery. This book shows teams how to start with a clear outcome, interview to discover opportunities, and test assumptions to quickly evaluate solutions. "It's that detail that uncovers needs and pain points, but it really requires the structured mindset to have that patience and to do that work to uncover the full story." – Teresa Torres Listen IN Notes: 00:00 – Listening as a superpower: Teresa shares the story on how she first became awarene on the power of listening, especially in the context of business 05:12 – Freeing oneself from the curse of knowledge: The inspiration behind her book, Continuous Discovery Habits 09:01 – How to create value: Teresa discusses the importance of conducting regular interviews with both the companies' customers and executives as she explains the concept behind story-based interviewing 16:39 – Learn from Teresa: How does Teresa interview a customer? How can you know that you're interviewing people well? 20:17 – "Participant and interviewer fatigue are real things": How much time should one spend to get all the details and uncover pain points? 22:53 – Get more value through collaboration: The benefits of having the product trio work on an interview altogether 25:00 – Visualize your thinking: Teresa explains the concept behind her visual, the Opportunity Solution Tree 28:57 – Where the synthesis happens: Individually mapping out then sharing things within the team to find commonalities afterwards to avoid group-thinking 31:54 – Learn from Teresa: How do you get someone to keep wanting to be interviewed? 35:04 – "I think the core reason why we don't listen very well in business contexts is because we're doing too much" 39:48 – Then and Now: Skills Teresa developed through the time she's spent in her craft 43:24 – It's hard but it's worth it: "We rarely think this hard in business, but critical thinking is absolutely required to really understand what we heard." Key Takeaways: "Listening is a big part of (product development)...visualizing helps us verify that we heard the right thing." – Teresa Torres "If you actually focus on collecting a story and your interview is all about your customer and not about your product, not about how great your solution is, most of the time, your customer will ask you at the end of that interview when they can do it again. And it's because we're so rarely listened to." – Teresa Torres "It turns out humans love talking about themselves, so interviewing actually ends up being this really positive experience for the customer and inevitably they want to do it again." – Teresa Torres "Get really good at story-based interviewing, because then it's not a favor; customers actually feel like it's a treat." – Teresa Torres "It's not about I heard something right and you heard something wrong. It's about we heard two different things. How do we get as close as possible to what the other person intended, and recognizing we may not ever get 100% there." – Teresa Torres Notes/Mentions: Product Talk: https://www.producttalk.org/ Continuous Discovery Habits: https://www.producttalk.org/2021/05/continuous-discovery-habits/ Opportunity Solution Tree: https://www.producttalk.org/opportunity-solution-tree/ Connect with Teresa Torres: Website: https://www.producttalk.org/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ttorres/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/teresatorres/ Connect with Raquel Ark: www.listeningalchemy.com Mobile: + 491732340722 contact@listeningalchemy.com LinkedIn

High-quality listening has a lot of power to impact challenging conversations, engagement, and burnout. And we are only at the beginning of learning about the potential of listening and what is possible. In this episode, we dive into current research and open questions. Guy Itzchakov, an Associate Professor in the Department of Human Services at University of Haifa, shares what he is discovering empirically about listening. His research focuses on high quality listening as an avenue for growth at individual and organizational levels. He also studies attitude ambivalence, attitude-behavior relationships, and goal setting. Guy graduated with a Doctor of Philosophy - PhD focused in General Business Administration and Management from The Hebrew University. In this episode, Guy shares how cultivating a climate of listening and genuinely getting interested in other people helps motivation, engagement, provides higher psychological safety that help avoid emotional exhaustion, and lowers turnover in an organization. "When you listen, you are not invisible. On the contrary, you are actually the one who sets the tone." - Guy Itzchakov Listen IN Notes: 01:13 - What he is discovering further about listening after the last podcast recording: "The more I study listening, the more I realize how much depth this topic has, and how much there is more to discover." 04:24 - Differentiating in-person versus online listening 11:23 - Sharing studies about how speakers are affected by being listened to. 18:26 - Looking forward to the day when people discover the benefits of effective listening though experiences 20:39 - Talking about a project published recently: Whether being listened to can reduce a speaker's loneliness when they talk about being socially rejected. 24:35 - Difference between moderate listening and high quality listening 27:51 - Manager listening versus colleague listening 32:16 - Touching on research about how to sell ideas to stakeholders 34:35 - What often happens when we wait before we reply, listen before we react 35:50 - What managers in organizations can do to support listening: "I think first is awareness of the importance of listening." 38:34 - Getting an idea of what a listening climate looks like 42:19 - How to listen in disagreements 48:53 - Talking about the concept of self-insight 50:19 - What good listening can do to disagreements: "I think it can create more harmony during the disagreement." 54:11 - How to do more effective listening 57:27 - Cultivating a listening attitude and having genuine interest in other people and in what they say Key Takeaways: "When speakers felt listened to well, versus in the moderate level, they reported less deep loneliness." - Guy Itzchakov "When you talk about the evidence of listening in the organization, it's the realization of how listening is important. That listening is not passive behavior. It's not just you being silent and nodding your head…It's much more." - Guy Itzchakov "When cultivating a listening climate, it's not enough that the manager says , 'You know, I have an open door policy, you can talk to me whenever you want'. They need to show it." - Guy Itzchakov "Listening during disagreements leads to a higher sense of connection as perceived by the speaker with the listener, more knowledge about one's attitude, self-insights, and it has downstream effects on the structure of the attitude." - Guy Itzchakov "I don't think listening can shift an attitude during a disagreement unless under very specific circumstances. But I do believe that it can create more harmony during the disagreement." - Guy Itzchakov "Be aware that there is a lot of supporting evidence about how active the role of the listener is in shaping the conversation and the consequences." - Guy Itzchakov Notes/Mentions: Evidence on Listening Training and Workplace Performance with Guy Itzchakov Barbara Lee Fredrickson:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Fredrickson Impact Stories https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55AdBSq0BvA Connect with Guy Itzchakov: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/guy-itzchakov-05921060/ https://hw.haifa.ac.il/en/people/human/gitzchako Connect with Raquel Ark: www.listeningalchemy.com Mobile: + 491732340722 contact@listeningalchemy.com LinkedIn

Often we don't notice it, but as leaders taking on varied roles in one's personal and professional life, we find ourselves hearing and not listening. When we truly dial into our listening intelligence, that's when it strengthens connections and improves relationships that reinforce the human capacity for positive societal change. Ebele Chukwujama is a Chief Executive with 22 years of progressive experience in Banking, Consulting, and Human Development. Amongst her numerous leadership positions, she was the Division Lead – Aviation Group within the Corporate Banking Division of Zenith Bank Plc. She is the Chief Executive Officer of Aloeglobal Lifestyle and Wellness Services and also Chief Executive Officer of Poise Nigeria Limited, Nigeria's Premier Personality Branding, and Communication Company. She is a certified coach with Olusola Lanre Coaching Academy, a member of the John Maxwell Team, and the founder of The Listening School, the very first in Africa. The Listening School is a disruptive start-up on a mission to revolutionize human connection, promote real-time problem solving, increase individual productivity, and ultimately improve business processes by building a culture of listening that will help develop more productive, effective workforces and bottom line, leveraging the art of listening intelligence. The Listening school wants to impact relationships and society, one listening ear at a time. In this episode, Ebele shares how we can overcome just "hearing" the other person and instead truly exercise listening, putting aside all biases, and coming in with an attitude of curiosity. That way, we give people a sense of respect and self-worth, making them matter in society. "It's powerful when we listen; it makes people feel valued, respected and gives a sense of dignity and a sense of self-worth." - Ebele Chukwujama Listen IN Notes: 00:32 - The moment Ebele noticed the power of listening: In my previous role as a CEO of a consulting company we offered speaking, writing, and all of that. And it occurred to me that we didn't offer listening, and I'm like, 'Oh, wow.' Then I went deeper into research. And I realized that listening is the incontrovertible half of communication. And it just hit me." 01:10 - What is it about that moment that hit her: "I thought, I hadn't even been listening. I have just been hearing. And you know, hearing isn't listening." 02:36 - One important thing she's realized now about listening: "When you say I hear you, you're not listening, and that you can't multitask." 02:58 - The impact listening is making in her life: "I realized that a lot of my time and attention, it's paying off my relationships with people, my interactions with my children, and society. 03:56 - Message to other CEOs and leaders: "Just listen, there's something deep inside each of us that yearns for attention." 05:03 - Initiatives she helps promote in the listening school she manages: "We facilitate listening intelligence as part of a leadership strategy, we help people enhance relationships, promote real-time problem solving and productivity." 06:43 - Knowing that everything is in alignment even with people listening and understanding things in different ways 08:18 - Overcoming the biases we have for the people we engage to listen to: "When you're coming to a listening engagement, I feel the listener or the leader has to have a curious mindset. That means you're dropping all biases." 09:17 - Advice to leaders who are too busy: "80% of your time is devoted to listening as a leader. If 80% of your work day is devoted to listening, then you must make time to listen." 10:01 - Leaders learning how to practice listening: "Self-awareness is mastery." 11:17 - Checking out and checking back into the conversation: "Use powerful, open-ended questions to get back into the conversation." 12:58 - Becoming aware of the different cultures and languages: Culture is complex and influences people in many different ways. However, generally speaking, our culture influences the way that we think and express our feelings, which can create barriers to communication." 14:41 - What's in store for the Listening School: "I'm committed to impacting relationships and society." 15:26 - Not interrupting but continuing to listen even when you get bored 18:16 - An experience of how curiosity and not interrupting significantly impacted her. 22:19 - Ebele shares great tips on being self-aware and conscious of listening. Key Takeaways: "Just be present and pay attention." - Ebele Chukwujama "Do not multitask while you're listening." - Ebele Chukwujama "Listen to understand and not to respond." - Ebele Chukwujama "Ask open-ended questions. Listening is a gift to the speaker. Together, we can impact our relationships and society while listening one ear at a time." - Ebele Chukwujama "I have watched many times the transformation that takes place when someone finally has the opportunity to be listened to. Practice makes improvement." - Ebele Chukwujama "Having that curious mind that no matter what it is, by going into a meeting, there's something everyone has to share with me. Because that's where you have the growth mindset because we learn and we grow daily." - Ebele Chukwujama Connect with Ebele Chukwujama: Website: www.thelisteningschool.com Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-listening-school/ Connect with Raquel Ark: www.listeningalchemy.com Mobile: + 491732340722 contact@listeningalchemy.com LinkedIn

Everyone has the capacity to make a difference on the social challenges that face us every day. Helping financially is one way, yet there are so many other ways we can have social impact. Building relationships in our communities where all voices are heard and considered in a foundation building block to create a collective effort which can bring forth massive change. And sometimes, as leaders, we try out "great" solutions to people's problems, yet are surprised they don't work. Maybe this is because we fail to listen first to the very people who are impacted and who may already have the answers to the issues at hand. In this episode, you will find out more about how giving people voice empowers significant transformational change in our communities, as a force for good. Ramona Houston, Ph.D., PMP, has a multifaceted career as a scholar, educator, and community engagement strategist. Sought for her expertise, Ramona is widely recognized as a thought leader in African American/Latino relations. An American historian and emerging public intellectual, Ramona specializes in 20th-century American history, civil rights, and race relations, specifically its African American and Mexican American dimensions. Through her blog, Ramona explores and critically analyzes current affairs from a historical and bicultural perspective, informing readers how contemporary issues and events relate to and or affect the African American and Latino American communities. She also devotes much of her blog to highlighting, celebrating, and promoting these two communities' history, people, culture, organizations, and events. Ramona shares her knowledge in all types of settings. She presents lectures and workshops for institutions and organizations, appears as an expert panelist and guest analyst for various programs and media outlets, and contributes print and online media columns. Through her publications and presentations, Ramona seeks to promote the importance of diverse groups working together in order to increase their capacity and effectiveness in producing positive social change. In this episode, Ramona shares how the only way to bring about a significant social impact is to listen. As she said, if we want an enormous societal impact, we need not only bring solutions we perceive to be effective, but rather talk and listen to the very people directly affected who already know best the answer to their problems. Besides, financial reward is not the only means to consider resources; creating relationships and influence can also make all the difference. "Everybody can contribute and do good. No matter who you are, where you live, or area of expertise. All of us have the capacity, and I would also argue the responsibility to make an impact." - Ramona Houston Listen IN Notes: 01:11 - Ramona on realizing the power of listening: It started when he was dating her now husband, how he taught her the power of resolving conflicts and not letting them fester. 06:47 - Pause and respond: "Everybody has their timing in communication, and part of listening is being able to pause." 09:15 - What it means to have a social impact: Having social responsibility while making money. 11:47 - Showcasing social impact: "One way to express this is by instituting diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility strategies in your business." 15:19 - How to understand the needs of people: "You understand the needs by listening to people who have the solutions." 18:53 - Breaking down and building up systemic structures: Who is often called in to do the "job" and who needs to step in to make real change. 21:29 - Voice and Empowerment: "There are many ways to look at resources. If you learn to recognize and value the various ways that people can impact your effort, you will be able to engage so many more resources and make such a greater impact." 26:07 - Looking beyond money: How some people have something else to contribute beyond just financial influence. 28:18 - Ramona celebrates her 100th podcast episode, and she reflects on her biggest surprise she had discovered. 33:24 - Empowerment across all aspects is at the root of her podcast message 35:12 - Ramona shares an empowering message 35:58 - Sharing a funny anecdote about her work and when she met Raquel. Key Takeaways: "With listening…You don't always have to respond immediately; you can pause and then respond." - Ramona Houston "Social impact is working with clients who believe in and embrace social responsibility, which is the business practice of doing good." - Ramona Houston "I believe that you can make money and make an impact." - Ramona Houston "It has to be not just the people who are affected by the structures to make the change, but the people who are actually holding up the structures to make the change." - Ramona Houston "I would say that leadership, in terms of making a social impact, that no matter what area that you want to address, whether it's economic, educational, political, social change, that you need to listen to the people who are actually suffering from the issues that you're trying to address. Because many times they have the solutions that you're looking for." - Ramona Houston Notes/Mentions: Ramona's husband who is a great listener: Terreon "Tank" Gully John Elton: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elton_John Patti Labelle: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patti_LaBelle Listen to Ramona's interview with Raquel on "The Empowerment Zone":: https://ramonahouston.com/podcast/listen-more/ Connect with Ramona Houston: Website: https://ramonahouston.com Website: "The Empowerment Zone." LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ramonahouston Twitter: @ramonahouston FB: https://www.facebook.com/Dr.RamonaHouston IG: @ramonahoustonpmp Connect with Raquel Ark: www.listeningalchemy.com Mobile: + 491732340722 contact@listeningalchemy.com LinkedIn

How can we speak in a way that will drive people to easily listen and understand our message? Learn the art of communication with us today, so you can be noticed, respected, and heard as you speak! Susan Heaton-Wright is the founder of SuperStar Communicator, where she helps empower individuals and teams to be impactful, and communicate with confidence, clarity, credibility, and influence in all business conversations. She created the SuperStar Communicator™ methodology and has supported clients globally to be better-spoken communicators. Susan is a multi-award-winning business owner. She is the CEO of award-winning Viva Live Music, and is a former prize winning international opera singer. She has a podcast called SuperStar Communicator, and volunteers for Love without Borders, supporting refugees in Athens. In this episode, Susan shares the 5 areas one should consider in being an effective communicator. She explains how to be concise and make information easily digestible in conversations, even for time-pressured executive leaders so that you can get your message across with impact. We also dive into unconscious bias and the importance of being aware of how this impacts our listening. This episode if full of practical tips and ideas to help you on your professional journey "Speak, so it's as easy as possible for other people to listen and understand you." – Susan Heaton-Wright Listen IN Notes: 00:11 – From music to business conversations: Susan has always been aware of listening, with the awareness starting from her background as a musician 01:30 – Project to be noticed: Susan shares the story behind her dream to go to university 04:50 – A message to her 17-year-old self: "Own my success, and make sure that other people know about it." 06:17 – I Am Remarkable: How do you own your success, let people know, and inspire them through it? 10:54 – It is doable, therefore, possible: Self promotion as a fuel you can maximize to be known 12:27 – Five key areas to become a superstar communicator: Audience, content, preparation, performance, and voice 16:20 – On speaking to be heard: Keeping things concise and clear, and having a call to action 19:46 – Hard work makes people switch off: How to use your voice in a way that will make people listen to you 22:45 – A recording could help: Susan's thoughts on translating the key areas into written communication 27:12 – Clear the blocker: "We don't hear the same voice that everybody else does, because we are hearing our voice internally." 28:32 – How to communicate with busy people: Be brief and interesting 32:05 – A friend or a foe: Breaking the bias on selective listening by looking for common denominators 40:36 – A helpful tool: "Be present. Be in the moment." 41:45 – Today's takeaway: "Speak, so it's as easy as possible for other people to listen and understand you." 42:21 – Check out Susan's 10 top tips to being a SuperStar Communicator. Go to www.superstarcommunicator.com/ten-top-tips Key Takeaways: "There always has to be an audience in these business conversations. Otherwise, it's a fest of people talking over each other." – Susan Heaton-Wright "One of the things about self promotion; a lot of people feel very icky about that, but then, look around the successful people – some of whom are really brilliant, and some of whom you might think, How did they get there?. It has been through self promotion. They know how to play the system. They know that it is worth their while making sure that they speak up, that they respond to what other people are saying, that they are doing extra things alongside their job. So then, other people within the organization begin to get to know them." – Susan Heaton-Wright "We should speak so it is as easy as possible for other people to listen and understand us." – Susan Heaton-Wright "Make sure that you understand who you're going to be speaking to in the meeting. Do some research. You might find out that you were at the same university. You might find out that you've got a mutual friend or you've lived close to each other or you've worked in a similar organization in the past. Those things, if you bring them up quickly in a conversation, those will push you closer together, because we get attracted to people that are similar to us because we feel safe around them." – Susan Heaton-Wright "We listen best when we are in the moment, actively in the conversation. We're not listening exclusively, but we are also watching them." – Susan Heaton-Wright Notes/Mentions: #IamRemarkable: https://iamremarkable.withgoogle.com/ 10 top tips to being a SuperStar Communicator: www.superstarcommunicator.com/ten-top-tips SuperStar Communicator: https://superstarcommunicator.com/ SuperStar Communicator podcast: https://superstarcommunicator.com/podcast/ Connect with Susan Heaton-Wright: Website: http://www.superstarcommunicator.com LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/susanheatonwright Twitter: https://twitter.com/superstarcomms Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/susanheatonwright1/ Connect with Raquel Ark: www.listeningalchemy.com Mobile: + 491732340722 contact@listeningalchemy.com LinkedIn

When working with a team, how do you effectively help each other while knowing that emotions are and will always be part of communicating? Lots of things are being done in a company with all the skills of different employees. By combining the I's to form the we, we allow everyone to show up in the best way that makes them productive. However, there are times when a project feels so heavy because those who are involved weren't able to communicate properly. Remember that communication is also a form of listening. Join us in this episode as we learn how we can work in a remote team while making sure that everyone hears and understands what each person is sharing. Podcaster on Managing Remote Teams, Luke Szyrmer has managed or participated in remote-only teams for almost a decade and has led teams building software, running marketing, and sales. Most recently, he led a program of approximately 30 distributed across 13 time zones and 8 different locations. Luke is the author of the #1 bestseller Launch Tomorrow and Managing Remote Teams: How to achieve together when everyone is working from how. In this episode, Luke shares what he does to help remote teams achieve success and why facilitating is as important as listening when working with teams across time zones. He gives tips on how to engage introverts who work in the second language so that the value they bring is not lost on the team. "If you do a lot of hierarchy, then just be aware that it can filter out important voices or data points." – Luke Szyrmer Listen IN Notes: 00:20 – Short Backgrounder: How playing his guitar as he grew up led Luke to notice the power of listening 04:15 – Teamwork Makes the Dream Work: Luke shares the spark that inspired him to write a book and start a podcast about managing remote teams 09:16 – Lesson Learned: Luke's piece of advice for his younger self in relation to one's tone as we write and/or speak 14:04 – Choose Wisely: How to work with a team, knowing that emotions will always be a part of the process 19:19 – Facilitator > Manager: Getting people to show up in the best possible way, with as much of themselves as they can in work 24:41 – Show Us How It's Done: Luke shares how he structures a workshop-type of meeting when working with teams 30:59 – Bye 'I', Hello 'We': Focusing more on working together as you deal with the fear of not being understood 32:44 – Finished or Not: Why it is important that team members have a common definition of the word 'done' as they hold themselves accountable to that 37:00 – Responding to executive demands: "It then becomes a question about resourcing and not about whether or not the team is underperforming" 40:24 – How Luke listens to the energy in his team: "You ask them. Make it okay to talk about that." 46:32 – Learn from Luke: One important thing leaders should know when it comes to remote work 54:48 – This Distorts Listening: The hierarchy within a company as something that's meant to be a filtering mechanism 59:34 – Luke talks about his book, as well as his podcast, Managing Remote Teams Key Takeaways: "Music is a window into an emotional state over time." – Luke Szyrmer "It feels great to be listened to, definitely. It is a way of communicating respect for what someone's saying in addition to making them just feel good about it." – Luke Szyrmer "When you are communicating purely textually, there still is tone on what you write, but it is very context-dependent. The same words can mean very different things, depending on exactly everything else that's said around them." – Luke Szyrmer "They [meetings] should be fun. If they're not fun, then probably, you don't need a meeting." – Luke Szyrmer "It doesn't really matter so much what that definition [of 'done'] is, from a general point of view. What does matter is that the team defines it and they hold themselves accountable to it." – Luke Szyrmer "Most people, when they show up for work, don't go there to do a bad job. They go there because they want to do something and enjoy doing it; they want to contribute to the whole. And my role as a facilitator is to help them do that as a group." – Luke Szyrmer Notes/Mentions: Managing Remote Teams: https://www.amazon.com/Align-Remotely-achieve-together-everyone-ebook/dp/B08RJYH1Y1/ Managing Remote Teams podcast: https://managingremoteteams.co/ Connect with Luke Szyrmer: Website: https://www.launchtomorrow.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lszyrmer Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LaunchTomorrow/ Connect with Raquel Ark: Website: www.listeningalchemy.com Mobile: + 491732340722 Email: contact@listeningalchemy.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/raquel-ark-b2067613/?originalSubdomain=de

As we live in a world where there are lots of distractions, be that from modern technology or from people constantly telling us what to do, we often forget that as humans, we yearn to be noticed and heard too. Just as how important it is for us to listen to others, we also shouldn't forget the value of listening to ourselves first. Without fully understanding who we are and what we'd want to become, how can we even help others to feel like they're safe and heard? Without listening to what our inner self has to say first, how can we even expect ourselves to hear voices of this world? Lending your ears, your heart, and your soul as you listen to people will impact that person's life forever. Nevertheless, remember that you also have a soul that's asking to be cared for. Author and speaker Jane Adshead Grant has more than 30 years' experience as an HR practitioner and a professionally trained and accredited executive coach and facilitator within Professional and Financial Services. Jane works with senior executives to create greater self-awareness, lead more effectively, enhance communication and influencing skills and create a culture where stakeholder value is created for everyone. Jane recently published the book the Listening Coach, a practical pocket guide to help you coach yourself through the elements of listening that are critical in life, in business and in your community. She aims to inspire people to think for oneself in order to unlock one's potential from within. Jane provides generative attention and listening which then results in clients achieving clarity, confidence, and new ways of moving forward towards an environment of growth and fulfillment. In this episode, Jane talks about the levels of listening as she discusses why self listening is a must before actually being able to listen to others well. Jane also reminds people how important mindset is as we go on with our listening journey. "In order for us to listen well to another, we need to listen first to ourselves, because when we listen to ourselves and connect with who we are, we begin to develop a sense of stability, and it's in that stability that others can seek refuge in us." – Jane Adshead Grant Listen IN Notes: 01:47 – On starting to notice the power of listening: Growing in an environment where listening was absent influenced her work in listening. 06:50 – Raquel shares a similar experience. Jane notes the value of looking for the good in others and acknowledging them as a human being. 09:47 – Where listening begins: Self listening involves being present with oneself and understanding more about who we are as a human being 12:58 – Connecting with people through regular listening sessions allows Jane to create a safe environment where people are heard and nurtured, which benefits both Jane and the others. 16:03 – Jane's practice of taking the time and space to connect deeply with oneself, and why it is an act that could be difficult for some 20:37 – The five levels of listening: listening to self, pretend listening, factual listening, empathetic listening, generative listening 26:14 – Teaching how to listen in order to avoid pretend listening: Listening is an active skill. It requires giving attention, not simply paying attention. 29:50 – Play rather than Obey: Making assumptions in difficult times, especially when there's the feeling of being stuck. 39:41 – Incisive questions are questions that ignite the mind to play. 44:28 – Mindset of Listening: Applying the growth mindset in listening. Asking, "What is the mindset in which I'm about to listen?" 48:33 – Including the fun in listening: Story of a family who had a lot of fun with the help of Jane's The Listening Deck 51:57 – The Listening Coach: Jane shares more about her book The Listening Coach, a practical pocket guide. It will help you coach yourself through the elements of listening that are critical in life, in business and in your community. It is easy to read and digest, with practical ideas so you can convert its insights into deeper ways of listening. Peppered with conversations and real-world case studies, you will discover the transformational impact of deep and generative listening. Key Takeaways: "How we behave – the words we use in relationships – can really lift one up or it can pull us apart." – Jane Adshead Grant "For me, self listening is where listening begins, because in order to listen well to another, we have to be able to listen to ourselves well." – Jane Adshead Grant "It takes time to quieten our mind, free from the things that we think we need to get going on and be doing. But simply be present with ourselves in that moment and connect down deep with who we are and who we're being." – Jane Adshead Grant "The key thing is to notice, to notice which level of listening am I in? What level of listening will really serve the person I'm with just now to the very best?" – Jane Adshead Grant "Listening is an active skill. It requires giving attention, not simply paying attention." – Jane Adshead Grant "If we apply the growth mindset [to ourselves], I believe we can all deepen and develop our listening skills to a deeper level." – Jane Adshead Grant "The mindset of listening is as critical as the skills of us developing our capacity to listen well with intention." – Jane Adshead Grant Notes/Mentions: The Listening Coach: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Listening-Coach-yourself-listening-communities/dp/B09MYYW9W4/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8 The Listening Deck: https://thelisteningcoach.co.uk/thelisteningdeck/ Time to Think: https://janeadsheadgrant.com/time-to-think/ Time to Think book: https://www.amazon.com/Time-Think-Listening-Ignite-Human/dp/0706377451 Incisive Questions by Nancy Kline: https://www.timetothink.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/incisive-questions.pdf Connect with Jane Adshead Grant: Website: https://janeadsheadgrant.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janeadsheadgrant/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jane.adsheadgrant YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/janeadsheadgrant1 Connect with Raquel Ark: www.listeningalchemy.com Mobile: + 491732340722 contact@listeningalchemy.com LinkedIn