Listening Skills
Training Exercises and Resources

Some people are fast talkers. They like to talk with the same speed as they think. In the process fast talking people end up mumbling a lot, shortening sentences, rounding off parts and skipping words. Their diction is poor and therefore they are difficult to understand. The problem is that fast talkers usually have a lot to say, which is why they are in a hurry to express themselves and more often than not what they want to share is actually useful. However, if no one understands what they have to say or if they mix it up with all sorts of irrelevant data or going off- tangent too often, then listeners get bored quickly or misunderstand them.

This exercise helps such individuals to practice slowing down their rate of speech and improve their diction. The exercise also helps to practice listening skills as delegates have to pay full attention to what has been said.

This exercise helps delegates to understand the importance of feedback in communications and realize why the lack of it can be so frustrating for both sides. By working together towards a common goal, delegates will learn to be patient, pay attention to details and of course use feedback.

This activity highlights individual’s ability to recognise objects by hearing their visual characteristics and illustrates the importance of perception and attention to detail in gathering information.

This effective exercise helps the delegates to understand how critical it is to listen before they talk in conversations. Most people simply talk from their own point of view and pay little attention to the other. This exercise helps the delegates to understand the need and the mental shift they need to go through to become better listeners.

Avoiding communication barriers is a necessity in today’s business world. Not only it is critical to identify if these barriers exist, but also how to remove them or reduce their effect. This activity enables delegates to explore new solutions in overcoming communication and listening barriers.

This exercise highlights the importance of confirming the information we receive from either our colleagues or clients. This activity is designed for groups of at least 8 delegates or more.

The aim of this exercise is to emphasise the importance of non verbal communication when working in a team.