In active listening you must be prepared to:- ask questions
- weigh the evidence
- watch your assumptions
- listen between the lines (at what is not said andfor non-verbal
elements such as facial expressions, tone, posture, physical
gestures etc.)
Reading skills
Good reading is listening in action – giving time and thought and
remaining alert to the possibilities suggested. A good reader will try
to work past:- poor structure and layout
- boring style
- off-putting tone
- too much or too little information
- difficult to follow content
- inordinate length
- lack of illustrations/diagrams.
You should examine what materials you mustread,shouldread
or might read in the light of your job/role/future ambitions and then
decide accordingly how and when to handle a particular item.
Speed reading is useful but only if it is accompanied by speed
understanding and reading too fast (or too slowly) can impair
understanding.
Read selectively (according to the must, should or might
categorisation) from each item that confronts you. In this, scanning
can help decide what attention to give particular items, so you
should look at overall content (headings and sub-headings), sample
182 The John Adair Handbook of Management and Leadership