How to become an engaged listener?

1. The Engaged Listener Equation | Jaswin
1February 18, 2015
The Engaged Listener Equation
Introduction. Are you an engaged and engaging listener? Have you leveraged the power of
listening to draw more engagement out of the people you work with? Here is a cogent
formula to help you capitalize on the 3 main elements of engaged listening.
The equation. Listen for content, emotion, and intention. This skill is based on your ability
to hear what is being said and to find an engaging way to respond to what was said. The
equation can be represented by the following formula:
Engaged Listening = Content + Emotion + Intention
Listening x Responding
Content: What?
What is speaker saying and not saying? You listen to the actual words and ideas
communicated by the person speaking. You also listen and respond to the implied
message in what the person is saying. Remember there may be ambivalence and conflict
in content communicated.
Emotion: How?
How is the speaker talking? What is the emotion behind the words? Identify and give
words to the emotions communicated by the speaker. The emotion may contradict the
content. The engaged listener has a rich emotional vocabulary. This is not touchy-feely
mushy stuff, rather emotions govern much of our behavior and actions. When you take
the “e” off of the word emotion you have motion. Much of the speaker’s emotion is
communicated nonverbally. Listen carefully for the motion in emotion. This gives you a
strong clue to the speaker’s intentions.
Intention: Why?
Why is the speaker saying what they are saying? What is their intent? The engaged
listener listens to what the speaker intends to do about what they are saying. Intentions
are the explicit or implicit goals embedded in what a person communicates to you.

2. The Engaged Listener Equation | Jaswin
2February 18, 2015
Listening x Responding: Foundation of understanding engagement.
Listening is not a passive exercise. Your effectiveness in listening is multiplied by your
responding and demonstration of listening. We must go beyond seeking to understand
to seeking to understand and demonstrate our understanding. The engaged listener
responds frequently. My rule of thumb is: I respond if I do not understand what the
speaker is saying or if I believe the speaker does not know what she or he is saying. I
believe that engaged listening involves good dialogue not a monologue on the behalf of
the speaker where the listener just keeps quietly nodding his or her head.