Listening 101
Listening 101 is a four-week experience designed for participants to become skilled at practicing listening.
Listening 101 provides participants tools and practice opportunities that can be applied at work with colleagues and employees, at work with customers and clients, in community groups, in personal relationships, and/or with family.
The value of Listening 101 lies in the difference that better listening makes.
Listening 101 Saves Time and Money
Listening is a fundamental component of communication in relationships, but also in businesses, teams, and organizations. Miscommunication is a costly result of poor listening, easily having real and hidden costs that total in the thousands of dollars.
Outcomes
After taking Listening 101, participants will
- Notice when they are listening well and what makes that possible
- Understand what contexts and situations make listening difficult
- Be skilled with tools, techniques, and concepts that empower them to listen even when listening is difficult
- Be skilled with nonverbal listening, paraphrasing, and asking powerful questions
- Be better able to be of service to others by creating quality conversations with their listening
Class Components
Listening 101 has three main components: class calls, coaching calls, and practice opportunities.
- Class Meetings (in person or via teleconference calls)
Participants in Listening 101 benefit from an experienced course leader who will be the instructor on the class calls. The class includes four one-hour class calls, one each week. For the central Shenandoah Valley in Virginia, classes can be in person. Otherwise, class calls are via teleconference, creating a convenient way to connect and learn with English speakers across the country – and even world. - Practice Opportunities
Listening 101 will give participants simple exercises and reflection questions designed to bring new listening skills into real life and break through listening blocks when they arise. The practice opportunities are meant to fit into current work and life situations and thus will make Listening 101 have a positive impact in real life while not taking time away from the normal schedule. - Listening/Reflection Calls
Participants in Listening 101 are paired each week with two different participants. On one call, participants share their own discoveries about applying the concepts and doing the practice opportunities, and on the other call, participants listen to another’s experiences.
Time Commitment
Listening 101 will take less than ten hours over an entire month. Each week for four weeks there will be a one-hour class, and two 30-minute listening calls, and practice opportunities that can fit into everyday life and thus do not take any extra time.
Tuition
Listening 101 tuition is $100 per seat, which includes the class calls, the coaching, and the practice opportunities. Group Tuition for teams, businesses, families, and religious organizations provides significant discounts for multiple seats.
Concepts
- Listening Blocks
- Mind Chatter
- Listen Anyway
- Nonverbal Listening
- Listen for What’s at Stake
- Follow the Speaker’s Path
- Clarification Statements
- Paraphrasing
- Emotions in Listening
- Questioning
- I – Not You – Statements
- Listening is Enough
- Take Responsibility for the Listening
- Listening as a Service
- BE the Listening
Schedule a custom Listening 101 section!
Contact us today! Email Kai@FairfieldCenter.org or call (540) 434-0059.