Barriers to Being a Good Listener

Most people try to be good listeners, and most people consider themselves successful. Yet accusations such as “You are not listening to me!” abound. Unfortunately, a number of barriers to listening apply to a greater or lesser extent to everybody at some time or another.
One of the biggest reasons that listening is so hard is that our brains have been wired for thousands of years in a certain way. You can think much faster than anyone can talk. Speech rate is about 100 to 150 words per minute. You can listen at more than 500 words per minute. It’s only natural that your mind may race ahead of the words you hear and even take in other conversations. You have to be very careful that, when this happens, you refocus on the speaker. Face it: You’re battling thousands of years of pure biology.