#BetterLeadership

From the article:

A Warm-Up Exercise for Your Listening Skills

Find a friend and try the following activity:

Conduct a conversation where the only rule is that you and your communication partner must begin each sentence with the last word of your partner’s sentence.

Let this run for about three minutes or, until one of you bursts into laughter with some of the resultant silly sentences.

The payoff from this simple “active listening” activity courtesy of Val and Sarah Gee writing in “Business Improv” (check out my Leadership Caffeine podcast with the authors) is to remind you how difficult it is to stay in the moment and remain focused on the words of your colleague. It takes deliberate effort to silence the symphony (or cacophony) in your mind.

While you might drive everyone nuts if you practice this technique without them knowing the rules, let the activity serve as a reminder of your obligation to listen harder and seek to understand.