Practical Listening is an outcome-focussed method for listening that holds the end user of the content at its centre. In the previous article, I spoke about the shortcomings of Active Listening (focussed on speaker only, rather than the broader context and useful outcomes). Practical Listening is all about getting the most out of the information you receive, for the people it matters to.

There are three steps to Practical Listening: Intention, Attention and Retention. Let's spend a moment exploring each of these elements.

1. INTENTION

Setting an intention is the first step and foundation of Practical Listening. Before entering a listening interaction, e.g. attending a conference, take a moment to consider who you are listening for. Who is the end user/s or beneficiary/ies of the information? What's important to them?

Let's take a health conference for example. If you're attending as a representative from a community health organisation, your end user/s and what's important to them will be different from those attending as a representative from the government, and different again from a business owner or seller of health products. You may be listening for yourself, your team, your boss, your client, a specific community, the general public (to name a few)… or any combination.

In addition to the who, you also need to consider how the information is being used. Is it to inform plans or policies? To educate on a specific subject? To share someone's story?

We use these considerations to inform what "lenses" we use to filter information while listening.

2. ATTENTION

The lenses you identify while setting your intention inform what information you prioritise and focus on while listening. Attention also means tuning into the speaker's style, listening for clues like tone, emphasis, repetition and reaction for what's important, and finding connections between ideas.

3. RETENTION

Retention is all about how you capture information in a useful way, informed by both your Intention and Attention. This could be through the use of templates, models, timelines, metaphors, colour chunking, storyboards, lists, pictures… Whatever is going to serve your purpose best.

The more you can practise these three steps, the more finely tuned your listening skills will become, and the easier you will find it to recalibrate for different situations.

There's been a lot of talk in recent years about Active Listening. That is, listening that's focused on the speaker, making sure they feel heard and understood. It uses verbal and physical affirmation from listener to speaker, and is commonly used in areas like counselling, training, management, conflict resolution, community consultation, and even journalism.

I think the intention of this originally was to come into your listening interaction from an empathetic stand point - to show your speaker that you're with them and you understand. The elements of active listening differ a little depending on what you read, but essentially at its core it's about understanding, remembering and responding to what the speaker is saying.

Unfortunately over time, things have become a little cloudy - many articles now focus on the verbal and physical response techniques (e.g. mirroring, eye contact, "yes, I understand", "indeed", posture, etc), which alone can be irritating and frankly useless if they don't come from an intention of genuine empathy and understanding. It can be all too easy to get caught up in the tasks and lose authenticity (some refer to this as simply "reflective listening").

If carried out properly, Active Listening can still be a useful style for situations that are about that moment, when the most important thing about the conversation is supporting the speaker. For example, this is the kind of listening you might use when supporting a friend through a break up. The detail is less important than your friend feeling heard, loved and supported.

It might also be a good style to apply if you are a HR professional dealing with a conflict resolution - but here's where it gets interesting. Unlike the break-up, in this situation there is a larger listening context than just the speaker and the listener.

Where Active Listening falls short is in interactions when the information the listener receives has a practical application beyond that specific interaction.

Let's take the HR conflict resolution as an example. While it is absolutely necessary to enter that situation practising an empathetic style of listening - ensuring the speaker feels heard and that you've understand what they've said - there's more to this story. The speaker is not the only stakeholder in this conversation. What needs to happen as a result of this interaction? On who's behalf are you listening (e.g. your boss? the rest of the staff? the other party involved in the conflict?)? How will this information be used? What are the important elements of the conversation to remember, and how are you capturing them?

There's a whole listening universe out there that needs to be taken into account to ensure your listening skills are not only coming from an empathetic place, but a useful one.

There are countless examples for where this style of listening applies - a project briefing with a client, attending a conference, a doctor's appointment, a planning workshop… Any situation where the information needs to have a greater lifespan than just from speaker's mouth to listener's ears.

This is what I call Practical Listening. It's an outcomes-based approach that focuses on who and what you are listening for, and how to best tune into, capture and remember what's important.

By taking the time to put yourself in the shoes of the end user, identifying what's important to them, and setting some intentions around what you're listening for, you're able to give the speaker's voice the utility and longevity it deserves.

The world is changing quickly.

We know that technology is progressing at an exponential rate. That there's been a shift in customer / client / employee expectations, and that automation is leading us to a knowledge-based economy. In the new world of big data, robots, the internet of things, and whatever comes next… Our human skills are more valuable than ever.

Young people entering the workforce today are expected to have 17 different jobs in 5 different industries in their working life. What were once thought of as "soft skills", like problem solving, adaptability, collaboration, and of course - listening… are now key skills to leadership and success in the future.

We know that we need to be better listeners to succeed in an ever-changing world.

The rise of social media, the shared economy (e.g. Uber, AirBnB) and peer-to-peer ratings (e.g. Yelp, TripAdvisor), have all impacted on the power shift that has seen everyone from grass roots organisations to international conglomerates talking "customer centricity". Instead of telling customers what they want, there's now a platform to actually listen to what they need, and respond.

Never before have organisations been able to get this close to their customers - to live in their everyday worlds, to talk to them one on one, to receive honest feedback on their products and services. This can be either an incredible opportunity or a nail in the coffin, and it all depends on how well we choose to listen.

The way successful companies are listening internally to their employees is changing dramatically, too. As the world starts to move away from hierarchical workplace structures, things like idea jams, hack-a-thons and innovation competitions - originally led by innovation leaders like Google - are now becoming more common place in variety of organisations. This is recognition of the fact that all the good ideas don't sit at the top, and anyone could have a valuable contribution to make.

If we don't invest in developing solid and practical listening skills, who knows what gold nuggets of value we're missing out on from our customers, employees, and the world around us.

Stay tuned for the next article on Practical Listening, and why Active Listening alone doesn't always cut it.

- John Keats

In the industry of Graphic Recording and Graphic Facilitation (referred to generally as 'Visual Practice'), as in so many other design industries, there is a constant need to find balance between process and product - form and function.

We talk a lot as a group about the importance of content. Indeed, one of the catch-cries of the fabulous Brandy Agerbeck (Author of The Graphic Facilitators' Guide) is "Content is King!". This is irrefutably true. As Visual Practitioners we are content-capturers, synthesisers, and sense makers. Our role is first and foremost to reflect your ideas.

What I don't think we talk about quite enough though, is the importance of beauty in our work. Without doubt, there is still significant value in using visual language that isn't "beautiful" - this speaks to the process or function side of coin. Even the simplest of images will still help us to better engage in, understand and remember content.

But what extra value are we missing out on if we don't also pay attention to form and product? Here's a little diagram that illustrates the value and the balance between the two, as I see it:

There seems to be a misconception that paying attention to the artistry in Visual Practise somehow distracts us from the content, but it's quite the contrary. Having a final product that's sweet on the eye will only serve to deepen and broaden the expression of your content. Here are some reasons why:

1. Eliminate Distraction A poorly executed graphic recording or illustration has the potential to frustrate rather than engage its audience. If text is messy and hard to read, or icons and drawings are unclear, this can be a cause of distraction. A clean, practised and well-executed style will ensure the illustration is clean, clear, easy to navigate and enjoyable to look at.

2. Engaging & sharing A beautiful illustration will capture the imagination and excitement of the audience. This will often lead to the piece of work (and most importantly - the content within it) to be talked about (at the time and long after), photographed and shared within teams and communities. This creates a buzz around the event and subject matter, and spreads your message further.

If you are sending digital files to your audience and broader network via email or online gallery, the chance of people engaging in and reading through your content is much higher if the final product looks attractive.

3. Longevity At this year's IFVP (International Forum of Visual Practitioners) Conference in Washington DC, the amazing comic book king and author Scott McCloud asked how many Apple users in the audience still had their original packaging… just about all of us did. It's just so goddamn lovely to look at! This is the power of good design.

If people love to look at the artefacts you create, they will live on much longer than their less-attractive counterparts. I am often thrilled to receive feedback that outputs from sessions I've worked on are hanging in offices and tea rooms around the country.

If the output from events is framed / printed / hung / wallpapered… The message is on display and your content lives on. It will continue to give it's gifts by engaging and re-engaging all those that see it.

4. Emotion I have spoken a number of times about the power of imagery - in particular humans and facial expressions - to increase the emotional and personal connection to content. If this is not done correctly however, it's possible to inject the wrong emotion into your product, confuse, or even alienate your audience. When done well, it creates a powerful relationship between the viewer and the message.

5. Ownership In a workshop-style situation, working with smaller groups and capturing lots of voices, one of the great benefits of Graphic Recording is that's it's a visual way of creating shared ownership in the group.

Reflecting the ideas of your participants in an attractive and inviting way can be a very empowering experience for them. Bringing life to their ideas and vision can help them to take pride in their own thoughts and contribution, and start to imagine what that idea might look like. A well-illustrated idea may also assist your participants to find the confidence and language they need to further express themselves.

So what should you do?

If you're a Visual Practitioner… Put aside some time to work on your skills in drawing and lettering. Get acquainted with design elements and principles, and consider how they might serve your work. Do some short courses in calligraphy and lettering. Practise drawing facial expressions (a great resource for this: http://www.grimace-project.net/). Ask your peers and clients for constructive feedback, and work on your weaknesses.

If you're looking for a Visual Practitioner… Consider what you would like to do with the outputs from your event, and find a Visual Practitioner with a style that you and your audience like and relate to. Make a plan about how you'll use the outputs after the event and let your VP know.