I’ve scoured books on listening, yet I still miss half of what people say. I hardly recall lists of tasks relayed to me, and I miss half of what is spoken in the movies. However, I figured out a way to truly listen, and this technique applies to visual learners. It’s simply to visualize everything said.
Before this obvious revelation, books I read recommended nodding in agreement, rephrasing, and repeating what the speaker says. None of that worked for me. In my view, stating, “So what you’re saying is…” didn’t make for a good flow of conversation either. At work, I’d try to listen to my colleagues’ complex engineering talk, but I often tuned out despite my best efforts. However, now that I visualize everything they say, I follow along with surprisingly excellent comprehension. I ask knowledgeable, clarifying questions and believe the engineering concepts are much simpler than they would have been had I interrupted and said, “So, to summarize … .” That may work for auditory learners, sharpening their listening skills, but not for me and I believe not for most visual learners.
So, how might visual learners excel at listening? Turn everything said into a visual. If someone says, “You nailed it,” imagine a proud construction worker hammering a nail. “I got a raise today”? Imagine dollar bills flying at the person. The visuals don’t need to link to one another in a linear movie fashion, either. They can be unrelated visuals as long as they build an instant picture of the spoken words.
Furthermore, imagine as many images as possible in a single sentence–the more, the merrier, as long as they capture elements of what is said. I struggled with listening skills despite reading books claiming to teach effective listening. But now I’ve found a solution.
And I think it works similarly for kinesthetic learners, too, when they emphasize the “feel” and “doing” of the spoken words, such as a hammer cracking the nail to grasp the words “I nailed it” or the thrust of the boss throwing money to capture the words, “I got a raise.” However, since writing this article, combining visuals and kinesthetic actions has most enhanced my listening ability.
Indeed, visualizing the spoken word requires active listening. And turning words into visuals is more fun, in my view, than quipping, “So, what you are saying is …,” where the person might respond, “I know that’s what I said. I just said it!” Instead, visualization and kinesthetic processing of the spoken word lead to better discussions and recall. And active listening can help us achieve unparalleled academic, interpersonal, and professional success. After all, we are innately wired to excel at anything we set out to achieve!
