I would love to hear other presenters ideas on how to best redirect our self in the middle of presenting an idea, when we realize we can hear the crickets.

This helped me to put into perspective what i need to do to be a more effective coach

Managing difficult interactions is hard work. But worth the effort.  Difficult conversations become easier to handle you are able to prevent situations from getting out of hand, it helps with moral, strenghtens work relationships and increases productivity.

How often do we go into a conversation- with a student, a spouse, a coworker etc. and we think we already know the answer... we listen, and are SURPRISED that what they say is not what we anticipated... and then the next day can only remember what we thought they were going to say? just me?

I find that, as I'm working, I tend to listen to reply rather than listen to understand.  I don't think I do that as much when I'm not working.  How can I better listen to understand in my work?

It's really a disadvantage to the communications process when all communications is conducted over the telephone.  Listening is so vital at this point because we can't see the body language of the other party. We really have to pay attention to voice quality to better understand what they're saying.

After seeing all of the 6 barriers, I realize how I can easily default to one of those if I'm not being careful. It's great to be made more aware of what those are and what they look like.

So what are some of the non-verbal things we can observe on the phone?

Listening is purposeful. This requires focus and a willingness to engage with the student and to dig deeper.

Its interesting to me that as one that spends most of the time on the phone with students, you can hear different body languages in peoples voices.

We used to teach the grade 5 students how to do this to become better writers--- most people know broad information. close friends know deeper information, and best friends/family know the key aspect. Relationally speaking- the further we progress through the funnel, the more our students are letting us into their life- and understand what really makes them tick.

I'm not the best at digging deeper, but adding this simple question or maybe, "Anything else?" can add so much more to rapport building and getting to the heart of the subject.

I never really thought of starting at the bottom of the funnel and working your way back up to broader topics.  I can see how it would really help to give the prospect a big picture view if they're mired in the details.

The funnel if done right can be a lot of fun. Put the fun in the funnel by making it about them! Since I am a counselor, knowing about you is very importanct so..." :)

Just wondering everyone else's opinion: when do we work the funnel in our initial conversation with our students? Is it when we are doing our needs analysis? Is it after every question we ask them?

One of the most difficult aspects of "working the funnel" in my mind is having a purpose for the questions you're going to ask. This break down made it really clear how I can achieve purpose in my questions which I believe will help me build better rapport and dig deeper into my students' motivations for going back to school and what could keep them from finishing.

This line of questioning was helpful for me because I sometimes get stuck working my way backwards when a student gives me specific detail. It helps me determine the overall purpose and a general understanding of the student.

Reflective listening is essential to the gathering of information. It puts both parties on the same page, so there is nothing lost in translation.

I've just recently tried adding this into the end of our needs analysis by saying at the end, "So I want to make sure I'm hearing you correctly...." and summarize the main points of their answers. It shows I listened (and took notes, ha) but also makes that end question of "Is there anything else to add?" less awkward.

This was interesting. maybe a little extreem- but I think it is good insight to pay attention to the metaphors people use... I know for me personally, when I say a metaphor, I mean something completely different than when my husband uses the same metaphore- so really digging in and even using reflecting listening can help understand where a student is coming from