The Zen Of Listening

Shafir, chief of speech pathology at Massachusetts's Lahey Clinic with over 25 years of clinical experience helping patients learn to speak, has attempted her to write a "heads-up" book for this age of soundbytes, multitasking and hidden agendas. Communication is an interactive process dependent on both speaking and listening. Too often, the listening part is given short shrift, and we are left wondering why we feel "empty". Defining listening as "the willingness to see a situation through the eyes of the speaker", Shafir goes beyond the mechanics of good listening behaviour to an approach requiring relaxation, focus and a desire to learn from the speaker's perspective. In a friendly and informal tone, she discusses specific exercises, activities and strategies to improve awareness, provides illustrations, and gives examples from her clinical experiences.