Communication without listening is self-talk

Let’s start the conversation by defining what self-talk is.

Self-talk could be described as the way you talk to yourself i.e. your inner voice.

This inner voice combines conscious thoughts with in-built beliefs and biases to create an internal monologue that remains within the boundaries of your mind.

For as long as it remains directed at self, it does not transmit beyond you to anyone else. Neither does it have the capacity to influence or persuade anyone else. It exists mainly to reinforce your already in built beliefs about yourself, the world and the future ahead of you. It may be a positive or negative force depending on the nature of beliefs and biases that are prevalent in your mindset. But the thing to note is that it is self to self talk.

Communication, on the other hand is about how we transmit information, context, ideas, values, beliefs etc between from one individual, group or entity to another with the intent of doing either or all of the following:

• Sharing knowledge
• Influencing or persuading
• Seeking support
• Inspiring action
• Testing opinions
• Seeking feedback

Communication always involves someone other than the self. It is the existence of an “other” that gives communication life – or a reason to exist. For that reason, listening is an important pre-requisite for communications.

 

In business, societal and political communications, the ability to listen effectively plays a big role in the outcomes that we have.

Many Public Relations and communications gaffes by public and political figures arise because of a lack of awareness about the perspectives of people outside their inner circle or with a different world view from theirs. We often assume that everyone else thinks like us or will see things the same way we do.

Effective communication thrives on many elements that centre on the ability to listen, understand and respond appropriately.  And there are several ways  this plays out in real life.

Let’s look at a few examples.

BUSINESS AND WORKPLACE CONTEXT

• Internal: A leader who does not make the effort to listen to feedback from peers, subordinates, internal customers and superiors would miss out on a lot of information that would be helpful to his or her effectiveness in the workplace. Sometimes, a simple 360 degree feedback survey can make all the difference to how a leader functions in the work environment. Many leaders are clueless about what employees really think about them, simply because they do not take the effort to listen or seek constructive feedback.

• External: A brand that does not listen to its customers or constantly ignores feedback is more or less a dying brand. The brands that enjoy the greatest longevity in terms of their ability to weather the ever-changing trends in consumer needs, taste and preferences are those who actually listen to what the market is saying. Market communications is more about listening than anything else. Your consumers and customers need to feel like they are seen and heard and their views and perspective matter.
  • Customers can tell when listening has taken place because it reflects in the tone and language of the communications that come forth.
  • Brands and businesses come across as being tone-deaf, when their communications gives the impression that they have not been paying attention or listening to ongoing conversation about an issue of interest that is perceived as being relevant to the brand.

PUBLIC SECTOR & POLITICAL CONTEXT:

Listening is also very important in public sector and political communication. In fact, most political communication falls flat simply because public office holders and political appointments make one or more of the following mistakes:

1. They make assumptions about their audience
2. Do not bother to listen to understand perspectives different from their own
3. Assume that their official position confers credibility of voice
4. Fail to understand the connection between trust and listening

All of the above is the one reason why trust in government has eroded more in recent years than ever before. (See Edelman Trust Barometer 2023). People trust communication from business leaders much more than they trust what the government says. This mistrust can be traced back to one or more of the factors mentioned above.

Credibility voice is important in political and public sector communication. The audience would like to know, why should we listen to you? Why should we trust you? One way to obtain trust is to show that you have listened to the people. You see them. You value their point of view and are responding and acting based on that.

RESPONSIVE COMMUNICATIONS

Responsive communications in business and political leadership is about taking the time to listen to and understand the painpoints of key audiences and stakeholder groups within your operational or governance purview and take the effort to respond in word and action. Some of the most effective leaders in the pandemic were those who were most responsive to the fears and concerns of the people. While not aiming to please everyone, they aimed to respond broadly and ensure that concerns were broadly addressed.

A few questions to ask yourself to determine if you are a responsive communicator:

1. Is communications a key aspect of your business, political or organizational strategy?
2. Does your business or organization have a process for obtaining feedback from internal or external stakeholder groups on a regular basis?
3. Have you sought for feedback from subordinates, stakeholders or customers in the past 6 months or one year?
4. Have you incorporated any received feedback into your communications, engagement or operational actions?

If your response is NO to 3 or more of these questions, then you are not a responsive or listening organization or business

If your response is YES to 3 or more, then you are a very responsive and listening organization. Please keep it up!

If your response is YES/NO to only 2 of these, then there is scope for improvement and you may wish to consider making improvements in any of the above areas as relevant and applicable to your business, societal, organization or political context.

Listening is important for business and political effectiveness. It strengthens your communication and ability to positively influence and steer a targeted group or audience towards a desired objective or outcome.