Beyond the CVs, how to listen for the breakthroughs in bioscience.

This episode of Deep Listening Impact Beyond Words explores the art of listening in diplomatic cross-cultural meetings, drawing insights from British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly's discussion with Cindy Yu on The Spectator's Chinese Whisper Podcast.

Key takeaways:

• Focus on non-verbal cues: Ambassador Cleverly emphasizes that what people don't say, their body language, note-taking, and response delays are often more revealing than their spoken words. This applies not just to high-stakes diplomacy but also to everyday workplace meetings.
• Team listening: Effective listening involves individual attentiveness and collaboration within your team.  
• The power of silence: Pay attention to pauses in the conversation. Their length, frequency, and placement can signal reflection, emphasis, cultural differences, or the weight of potential responses.
• Longitudinal listening: Notice subtle changes in language, body language, and overall tone over time during extended negotiations or repeated meetings.

Actionable insights:

• Reflect on your listening habits: How much attention do you pay to non-verbal cues?  
• Practice team listening: Discuss group observations and interpretations after meetings to gain a more comprehensive understanding.
• Refine your pause awareness: Observe how others use pauses and experiment with your own pausing to enhance meaning and impact.

By applying these insights from diplomatic listening to your own workplace interactions, you can improve communication, build trust, and navigate complex situations more effectively.

Additional Resources 

"Does China Care What Britain Thinks?" from The Spectator's Chinese Whisper Podcast hosted by Cindy Yu.

"Ambassadors: Thinking About Diplomacy From Machiavelli To Modern Times" by Robert Cooper.

Nicole Lowenbraun and Maegan Stephens, authors of the book "Adaptive Listening: How to Cultivate Trust and Traction at Work," explain the impact of adapting your listening in the a corporate workplace.

They introduce the SAID listening model, which stands for Support, Advance, Immerse, and Discern, each representing a specific listening style and goal. They emphasize that everyone has a unique listening style and good intentions but may not always meet the speaker's needs.

Nicole, a content director, and executive speaker coach, highlights the necessity of adapting your listening style based on the speaker's requirements. Maegan, a senior director of communication services, shares her experiences in coaching executives and the challenges of listening and providing feedback tailored to executive leaders.

They delve into their three-year journey of writing the book, emphasizing the need for detailed, actionable steps and memorable models for effective communication.

They discuss the complexities of discernment in the workplace and offer insights into guiding others to listen effectively and seek the right type of listening in different situations.

S A I D

Support

Advance

Immerse

Discern

As a bonus, listen to Nicole, Maegan, and Oscar debrief on the process of listening during the recording of this discussion.

Authenticx CEO and Founder, Amy Brown, discusses the power of listening at scale in the contact center industry. She shares her personal experiences and how they shaped her understanding of the importance of listening to patients and customers.

Brown emphasizes the need for organizations to listen to the authentic voice of the customer in order to drive positive healthcare outcomes. She also highlights the barriers to effectively utilizing conversational data and the ethical considerations of AI technology.

Brown provides insights into how Authenticx's platform helps organizations unlock valuable insights and drive innovation through listening. She concludes by offering three key questions that organizations should ask when evaluating suppliers of systems for listening at scale.

Amy Bown   

Authenticx  

Authenticx's Eddy Effect

how to listen – the most comprehensive book about listening in the workplace – visual edition – print & digital version

how to listen - visual edition - the back story

Oscar Trimboli interviews Jamie Woolf and Heidi Rosenfelder, former employees of Pixar Animation Studios and founders of CreativityPartners, discussing the importance of listening in building connections and fostering innovation.

Woolf and Rosenfelder emphasize the need to slow down the questioning process and ask better, more meaningful questions.

They highlight the role of playback, curiosity, and emotional awareness in effective listening.

We've got three copies of the book, Creativity, Inc, a behind the scenes story about creativity by the founder at Pixar, Ed Catmull. https://www.amazon.com/Creativity-Inc-Overcoming-Unseen-Inspiration/dp/0812993012

Email podcast@oscartrimboli.com with the subject Pixar and your reflections on this discussion between Jamie, Heidi and myself.

The conversation touches on creating a safe and inclusive environment for all voices to be heard, as well as the impact of power dynamics on listening.

Learn about advanced listening techniques including

• The playback
• Slowing down the process 
• The importance of plussing
• The role of the environment
• Power dynamics

Inside Pixar

Matt Abrahams is a leading expert in the field of communications. He's a lecturer in organizational behavior at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business.

He teaches a very popular class in strategic communication and effective virtual presenting.

He's so good, he's even won the school's alumni teaching award. Matt also co-teaches improvisational speaking in Stanford's Continuing Studies program.

To relax and rejuvenate, Matt enjoys hiking with his wife, watching sport with his kids, hang out with his friends, and continually being humbled in the Karate Dojo.

In Matt's new book, Think Faster, Talk Smarter, an important contribution to the field of communication in the workplace, he takes the time to unpack the role of listening in communication.

He highlights this in one chapter, yet there's a thread throughout the entire book about the importance of listening to the audience. The book provides really tangible and actionable tips and techniques to help you as the speaker succeed for the majority of times speaking spontaneously.

Matt provides science-based strategies for managing your anxiety, responding to the mood of the room, making content concise, relevant, compelling and memorable. He draws on his own stories, he draws on stories from his clients and his students. He offers ways to navigate Q&A sessions, successful job interviews, providing feedback, even making small talk and persuading others while handling those impromptu moments at work.

I've read his book a few times and Matt's punchy 20-minute podcast Think Fast, Talk Smart, has been in my podcast feed since 2020.

I strongly recommend Think Faster, Talk Smarter because Matt deals with the issues about communication in the workplace that I think are the crucial ones, not the planned presentation, the spontaneous speaking moments. I'm listening to you.

If you'd like to be one of the first five people to receive a copy of Matt's book, Think Faster, Talk Smarter, send an email podcast at oscar trimboli dot com with the Subject, Smarter, and answer these three questions.

1. What did you learn from Matt?
2. What did you learn from our conversation?
3. And what will you do differently as a result of listening to today's episode?

Listen to how well Matt listens and spontaneously answers when I throw him a curveball question at the end of our discussion.

Matt, what's the cost of not listening?

Kathryn Mannix has spent her medical career working with people who have incurable advanced illnesses.

Starting in cancer care and changing career to become a pioneer of the new discipline of palliative medicine, she's worked with teams in hospices, hospitals, and in patients' own homes to deliver palliative care, optimizing quality of life even as death is approaching.

Kathryn has worked with many thousands of dying people and has found their ability to deal with illness and death both fascinating and inspirational.

She believes that a better public awareness about what happens as we die would reduce fear and enable people to discuss their hopes and plans with the people that matter to them.

Her account of how people live while they're dying, in her book, With the End in Mind, was published to Universal acclaim and was shortlisted for the Wellcome Prize.

Kathryn's next book, Listen: How to Find the Words for Tender Conversations, starts with a potent story about her early career encounter with Mrs. de Souza.

I encourage you to listen to this discussion more than once.

Kathryn's listening, it's well class and the way she explains listening is compelling. I have five copies of Kathryn's book to share.

If you email podcast@Oscartrimboli.com with the subject "Tender" and your reflections of this conversation.

You could reflect on the story of Mrs. de Souza.

You might reflect on Dorothy and her listening, or how you think about dancing and listening, the difference between doing and being listening, the impact of listening via video versus face-to-face. This is such a rich and nuanced experience.

Kathryn completely changed the way I think about listening.

In this episode, MathPath Aubrey Blanche helps people, teams, and organizations notice the edge of their mental, and systems models.

Listen for free