Good Listening Burns More Calories Than Talking?

• Listening is not equivalent to resting and is not a passive endeavor. You are actually participating in a conversation while remaining quiet. Good listening doesn’t take time, it buys time. Bernie gives four reasons why good listening is a critical and strenuous activity. While he writes from a business perspective, I believe this applies to settings involving educators, parents, and students.
• 1. Listening is purposeful. You should enter a conversation with a clear understanding of what needs to be accomplished.
• 2. Listening requires control. When you are on the receiving end of a communication, you need to steer and filter the incoming information in order to accomplish your purpose.
• 3. Listening requires total focus and engagement. Listening with intent requires you to bring a heightened awareness to the conversation, so that you can formulate the right questions and generate the necessary interjections and interruptions to advance the conversation productively.
• 4. Listening is the front end of decision making. It’s the surest, most efficient route to informing the judgements you will need to make.

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