Listening: The Forgotten Skill: A Self-Teaching Guide

by Madelyn Burley-Allen

A proven program for turning effective listening into a powerfulbusiness tool Managers and other employees spend more than 40percent of their time listening to other people but often do it sopoorly that the result is misunderstood instructions, misdirectedprojects, and erroneous actions--millions of dollars' worth ofmistakes just because most people don't know how to listen. In thisnew edition of her classic guide to the art of effective listening,Madelyn Burley-Allen shows you how to acquire active, productivelistening skills and put them to work for you--professionally,socially, and personally. With her time-tested techniques, you'lllearn how to:
* Eliminate distractions and improve your concentration on what isbeing said
* Locate key words, phrases, and ideas while listening
* Cut through your own listening biases
* Interpret body language clues
* Ask constructive, nonthreatening questions that elicit realinformation
* Get others to listen to you
* Master a whole range of listening skills that you can use on thejob and in your personal life
Listening: The Forgotten Skill uses an interactive learningapproach with work-sheets, charts, graphs, and self-tests that helpyou pace and monitor your own progress.

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help, Psychology, Business, Audiobook, Personal Development

208 pages, Paperback

First published May 7, 1982

About the author

Madelyn Burley-Allen, Ph.D. founder of Dynamics of Human Behavior in 1972.

Madelyn holds a Doctorate Degree in Applied Psychology, a Master Degree in Speech Communication, and a Bachelors Degrees in Development Psychology/Speech Communication.

Madelyn Burley-Allen has trained over 100,000 people globally in communication skills from the USA, China, Russia, Singapore, Malaysia, India, and Indonesia.

She has worked with many local, county and state agencies including groups like the State Compensation Insurance Fund, Intel, IBM, Bank of America, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Federal Region Training Centers and many others.

Madelyn Burley-Allen has written numerous articles in applied psychology, listening, and interpersonal communication in various journals, corporation, and association newsletters. She has authored numerous books in communication skills including: Listening: The Forgotten Skill, Managing Assertively; How to Improve Your People Skills, published by John Wiley & Son; and Memory Skills in Business..

Her books are translated into many languages such as: Russian; Korean; Spanish; Romanian; Hebrew; Arabic; French; Italian; and Japanese.

Reviews

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shume i dobishem ,sidomos me perfshirjen e ushtrimeve per te kuptuar nje nocion te caktuar.
Pushtetin e ka ai qe degjon.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's an infinite number of ways to mis-send a piece of information, and given the amount of assumed or compressed context surrounding any statement it's actually pretty amazing that two or more people are able to effectively communicate at all. I think shared culture and biological brain-wiring probably have a lot to do with it. But message parsing and active questioning on the listener's part is also half the equation. Responding properly in tone and wording is also something that takes a lot of practice. Anyway, it's always possible to get better at communicating, so books like this are pretty nice to read from time to time.

[Jayme · Rating 2 out of 5]

The ideas this book is grounded upon are sound, but the author was prone to presenting long lists of 'shoulds' without solid examples of 'how you should'. I felt a bit lost at times and the information was often unclear. I did find some of the exercises helpful, but since it was a library book, I tended to skip those exercises that required me to write things out. The diagrams and flow charts did not help me understand the information clearly. I've read better books on this topic. In particular, I recommend Mark Goulston's 'Just Listen'. Also: Avoid the audiobook of 'Listening' - Madelyn Allen is a poor reader - nearly unintelligible - and the presentation is haphazard and unprofessional.

[Susan de la Vergne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Competent, nicely presented, good background material. I realized after reading it that I'm almost never a "level 1" listener, someone who is completely open and receptive, whose puts aside pre-conceived notions, who never thinks of what to say in response while listening. In an era when we're swamped by stimuli, I don't think I know anyone who is such a listener. And, given that it's the foundation for all other types of communication (speaking, writing, reading), no wonder we struggle to connect. The exercises are too touchy-feely for most business professionals (except HR types, perhaps), but I found the information enlightening and well-researched.

[Leslie Yong · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Listening: The Forgotten Skill" by Madelyn Burley-Allen is a practical guide to improving your listening skills, both personally and professionally. The book highlights that people spend about 40% of their time listening, but often do it poorly, leading to misunderstandings and mistakes.

*Key Takeaways:*

- Eliminate Distractions: Improve concentration on what's being said
- Locate Key Information: Identify important words, phrases, and ideas
- Cut Through Biases: Recognise and overcome personal biases
- Interpret Body Language: Understand non-verbal cues
- Ask Constructive Questions: Encourage open and honest communication
- Get Others to Listen: Foster effective communication

The book uses an interactive approach with worksheets, charts, and self-tests to help readers pace and monitor their progress. Madelyn Burley-Allen is a renowned expert in communication skills, having conducted over 2,000 seminars on listening and management.

[Titus E · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read

Burley-Allen outlines how we can become more effective listeners and communicators. This book has a slew of exercises and tips that enables you to develop a plan of action that will result in improve communication skills.

[Cippo Lippo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Old and still effective

If you need to learn how to better listen with easy to understand mechanics, then this old book is what you are looking. I bought also the paper version due to few exercises and test proposed in the book which do not work (for me) in the digital book.

[Tyler · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book about listening that had some good information that helped me become more aware of how I listen and what I can do to improve. The book isn't terribly well-written but the content is so valuable I think it is still worth reading.

[Stacy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first few chapters of this were excellent and helpful. However I think this book is geared to western, white businesses and is not inclusive or gives thought to non western cultures and backgrounds. I hope there are better guides out there that are more inclusive and updated than this one.

[Allysia Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn’t care for her reading style but once I took the focus off of that I was able to receive the information she was delivering. I need to listen to it several more times.

[Michelle McNamara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book on listening

[Ranid · Rating 4 out of 5]

great explanation, fits well for beginner

[Robert J Kinsloe · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best guides for becoming a better listener. You also will be equipped to be a better manager of people in business. Also has very useful tutorial exercises. Robert J. Kinsloe, Author.

[Kelly Cook · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got both the audiobook and the print version--I figured my first experience should be using the sensory organ linked to the skill being developed. As an English Language Arts teacher, I am interested in this topic because listening is a skill I am expected to help my students develop, yet teacher prep programs devote virtually no time to this skill and the only formal educational assessments are meant for school psychologists in a one-on-one testing environment for students being assessed for learning disabilities. It seems that courses offering direct instruction in listening are reserved for graduate students in psychology, counseling, and business administration programs. When Madelyn Burley-Allen wrote the book in 1995, we spent 40% of our time listening (the percentage may be higher now with the preponderance of video), yet at best, preK-12students are generally given direct instruction in listening for 0-6 months of their entire school career. We assume that because we can physically hear, we can effectively listen, which is simply not true. The book is easy to understand and enlightening.

[Dee Renee Chesnut · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to this as an audiobook which may be available from a local library. I hope anyone who wants to listen to this book may find it as easily accessible.
Everyone has something to learn from this book and I just know who know someone who you wish would listen to you a bit better. (Politicians, bureaucrats, civil servants, any person who has a bit of authority who is resistant to your request for cooperation, any person who did not listen to what you told them to do, and so on. This book has a section about How to Listen so Others will Listen to you!

[Kari Olfert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listening: the Lost Skill is a decent reference style program to improve your awareness of your listening style. Some of the material is technical and a little dry but the techniques suggested are based on psychology and have a solid base point. Decent read and I found it insightful and interesting.

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

**Audio book**

It was difficult to listen to this narrator's voice but once you move past that, this was an interesting and helpful book. I have been trying to put some of the listening exercises into action.

[Amore Duzenski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect for everything I'm learning currently. This book will help you through school, relationships, the workplace and eveywhere else! Since getting this book my listening skills have been sharpened and even my fmaily has noticed. :-)

[Vivian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an audiobook. Topic is good, but narration is weak. Not an easy read since the narration keeps losing me.

[Laverne Rush]

It was a good book to read.

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a practical guide to teaching listening skills. I used it as the foundation for a 2 hour lecture I did on the same skill.

[Hill5635 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I needed to read the book for this and not the CD version. Very helpful topics and insight on how to listen better. Definately would have the book on hand as a reference.

[Ahmad ALGhamdi · Rating 1 out of 5]

It presented new good ideas. However, it's a little bit boring! By the way, there is a mistake in the diagram on page 2; listening part 40% should be talking part 35%.

[Kory Klimoski · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very informative book. I finished it too long ago to review it with any sort of true review.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

I completed the audiobook version. Don't recall a lot about it. Mustn't work!

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book I have needed for years. Useful, practical advice on listening. Obviously the focus is on business situations but man, this is going to come in handy on the personal side as well.

[Iwaswondering]

Bit boring. Didn't finish.

[Jeff Rider]

Complete waste of time. The audio-book that is.

It's read by the author...

Slurred speech, mis-pronounciations and incorrect word usage destroy all credibility.