Much to my delight, I’ve discovered many incredible benefits to visual listening.  When we visually listen, instead of a boring summary, such as, “So what you are saying is,” we can conjure exciting visuals with far-reaching implications.  For instance, visual listening makes us more exciting conversationalists.  It evokes laughter and engagement, making our loved ones feel special and heard.  Visuals are fun to conjure and help memorize spoken words.  Also, visuals turn into metaphors, which I’ve read are sources of inspiration, genius, and creativity.

As an example of visuals forging bonds, a loved one might say, “I went to the coffee shop and had a hot chocolate.” I can then ask, “Was it thick and foamy, like a bubbly toffee with cream oozing from its sides?” Or if they say they went to the grocery store, I can ask, “When you opened the door, did beams of golden light shoot off of you, wrapping the happy staff in your sparkly glow?” Much to my surprise, this kind of communication from me makes loved ones very happy and engaged.  I thought I’d sound off the wall, but people love having their ideas and actions painted with vivid imagery.

Or a loved one might say, “I swam the butterfly today,” where I might say, “I bet you made giant waves like a silver shark in a school of goldfish.” It may sound farfetched, but it’s more interesting than summarizing, “So, what you are saying is you practiced the butterfly for thirty minutes to get your arm technique down.” It’s not that that’s not interesting, but it isn’t exciting unless a date with Spock excites us.

So, how do we conjure visuals as a listener?  We should build whatever wondrous visuals come to mind, as long as they stem from what the speakers say.  They can be visual mental snapshots, imaginary movies, or even nonsensical imagery that makes sense to only us.  They all enliven the conversations.

And then, to express love for loved ones when they are out in the world, we can think fondly of them through visualizations, such as the mental imagery of opening a Valentine’s Day box to see a loved one’s face inside, smiling and beaming, molded in chocolate with golden rays glowing from him, swirling in the room, and swallowing us delightfully.

Once our visualizations make the conversation so scintillating that our loved ones are engaged and happy, then visualize gifts we can offer them, like cooking them a stew or poached salmon for dinner on a bed of greens with marshmallow dessert pillows instead of offering canned salmon on a store-made salad.

Lastly, visual listening skills can be applied in many fascinating ways, from goal achievement, sports performance excellence, meditation, wealth generation, true love, praise for God, exam preparation, and any goal under a smoking hot sun.  So, visualize wild and exciting imagery to keep all our loved ones, including ourselves, excited and engaged!