The first step and really being successful at listening in business, you got to stack the deck in your favor. That means eliminating needless distractions. Every workplace is filled with distractions. Now, you can have workplace at home and your distraction, kids dogs, telephones in another part of the house, you could be in a big office place and have an open space and there's all sorts of people around you. So you've got to do what ever it takes to minimize other sounds. So if that means going to another part of the house, if that means going to a private conference room, if you're listening to someone over the phone, if it's a face to face meeting, going to a quiet place, anything you can do to minimize any sound, other than that person's voice is going to enhance your chances of listening and understanding and remembering that's really what it's All about some obvious things, everybody's guilty of this occasionally I know I'm guilty of this occasionally.

But it's not enough to just put your phone down and take it out of your hand, which is torture for some people. By the way. never listen to a customer client, colleague or boss, if they can see you, and you have a phone in your hand at sending a clear cut message. You're not very important. I'm not really listening to you. I'm waiting for something better.

So of course the phone has to be out of your hand. It's not enough to turn the ringer off my recommendation, turn the whole phone off. That way, you're not going to be getting beats, vibrations, lights flashing, it's just human nature. You're talking to someone they can be telling you something incredibly important. The phone beeps and it's Oh, something might be more exciting there. So put the phones away as I mentioned in the previous lecture, Even your watches may have an iPad around, put those things on silence.

Now, this is even more important when it is your boss or highly important prospect or client. People can't stand it when they feel someone isn't listening to them, especially if they are paying that person. So if it's a relationship, whether it's your boss, a client, a prospect, they rightly or wrongly, they feel like they own your time they own your attention. So if they feel like you're not giving them complete, undivided attention, they're going to resent it. They're going to resent you. They may be looking for some form of payback.

Now, this may be at a subconscious level. They might not be actively thinking that way. But believe me, they are thinking that way. That's why you need to learn eliminate distractions. A lot of people like to work with music on in their office. That's great.

But somebody important calls you during the work day, I'd recommend turn the music off. somebody walks into your office, your cubicle, your spec, turn the music off, the fewer distractions, the better. All the research shows that human beings are actually horrible at multitasking. We all think we're great. We're horrible. If you doubt me, look at the statistics of teenagers and other people texting while driving.

So if you want to increase the odds of listening effectively, do everything you can to eliminate lights, sounds, flashes coming up from phones, music, other noises, so you can just listen to what that person says. Especially if they're not there. You In the room, and you're listening to them over the phone over a teleconference a speaker eliminate distractions.