Happy New Year! As we start 2022 I have another TED Talk to recommend. It ties in with my love of music and the importance I see in being a good listener to what others say.
Hrishikesh Hirway is the host, creator and executive producer of Song Exploder, a podcast and Netflix series about the creative process of songwriting. Recently in Monterey, California he delivered a TED Talk in which he used examples from music he composed and performed to make important points about what it is so important to listen well and how to improve listening skills.
Hirway tells us, "Every conversation has the potential to open up and reveal all the layers and layers within it, all those rooms within rooms." In this profoundly moving talk, he offers a guide to deep conversations and explores what you learn when you stop to listen closely. Stay tuned to the end to hear
Fifteen minutes spent with this video will not only be a lesson in improving listening skills, you will also see him perform his beautiful original song "Between There and Here (featuring the cello of the great Yo-Yo Ma)”.
His key take-aways for interpersonal listening skills that go “below the surface” are:
Be open to new ideas
Stop multitasking (no phones)
Let the other person know that you are engaged (proper body language and non-verbal ques
And do it without taking the focus away from them and putting it onto yourself.
- Herb