Besonders am Telefon ist es wichtig, aktiv zuzuhören. KEN TAYlOR erkärt Ihnen, was Sie
lernen sollten, um einen guten, aktiven Zuhörer abzugeben. MtuML
istening actively is a ski 11 you need in your ~
lan~uage. It's even more important when YOll are
on ehe phone in a foreign language. T hat's whell
you really need to feel cO!lfidcnr that you havc heard
and understood cvcrything correcdy.
But it's not enough juSt to listen carefully, You a lso
have to show activcly ehat you are [isrening and that you
undersrand the othcr person. Here's how fO do ir:a) Show interest
We do this by using encouraging so unds, words or
phrascs: " Mmmhmm", "~", "Righr". T hese signals
tell your partner (hat you've understood and want him
o r her to conrinue, You can use similar expressions tO
show emparhy: "Ob. dear!", "Oh, no!", " How awful!"b) Repeat
Good listeners repeat key words in a sentence to check
that they have understood and to encourage the other
person to continue speaking:
Speaker: 1'11 be arriving on Thursday.
listener: On Thursday?
Speaker: That's right. 1'11 be flying into Detroit.c} Ask questions to check your understanding- "What did you mean when you said ... ?"
- "Why did he go there?"
confident: feel -I'konfld;mtl siCh Sicher sein
consultancy [t;,n'sAIt~nsil Beratungsflrm-.--
empathy ['cmp;J(li1 Mltgefalll
How awfu!! [..!!.3U ':d .. I_____ Wie schreckliCh!
I see 1, 31 '$i:1 afiä."""ich verstehe
jump in Ld3Am~1 __ - sieh einSCha~'''~",---__
native lal"lguagc [,nelllv '1&'1)Qwld3 1 Muttersprache
Oh, dear! I.~ 'd131 _______ ~o""[e!
on track I,on 'Ira:k! auf Kurs ;;;:;:;;::=-_
oppressi ... !J~'prcslvl beklemmend
phrase Ifrcrtl -Ausdruck, Wendung
rapport: bulld -with sb. Ir~'pJ:I em gutes VerhlillnlS zureas$ured [,ri:~'JJ:dl ]mdm. beruhigt aUf~'~'~"E~~=
sales summCOnfer]~~'~Iarize ['sAm3r31101 '~"~":;"~"~':,"='="::"='=I=_~Vezusammenfassen rtreterkonferenz
um [Am) ifml. ah.112010
The questions should be relevant and move the conver-
sarion along. This is also a way of showing interest.d ) Allow silence
A shon silence of a few seconds allows the other per-
son tO colleet their thoughts. If you jump in too quick-
Iy, you may be interrupting a key message. Bur be care-
ful. Jf the silence is too [ong, it can beeome oppressjye.e) Summarize
You should summarize regularly when working in a sec-
ond language to make sure you are still on track. These
shon summa ries are usefu[ for both conversarion part-
ners - the speaker can correet a ny misunderstandings,
while ehe listener feels reassured.Active listening is a key skil[ for relephoning. Ir he[ps
you to build rapport wirh your comact person. Hcrc's
a shorr conversarion between J ane and Hans. Hans uses
acrive listcning to encouragc Jane to speak:
Jane: I thought we cou)d arrange the sales conference
in Devon this time. Somewhere nice like Torquay.
Hans: Torquay?
Jane: Yes. There's a very good conference hotel there.
Hans: Where did you hear that?
Jane: I asked around and did a lot of surfing on the
internet and .um ... [short si/encel ... and then I
talked to people in our London agency, and they
recommended this pi ace.
Hans: So, you th ink the best place for the conference
would be this hotel in Torquay, then?
Jane: That's right. [Jrn Praclise your hstening skiUs on Busmess Spotlight Audlo
119 Far translation exercises, see Business Spotlight plusKEN TAYLOR is a partner in Axiom, a communica-
lions consuttancy in London (www.axiomskllls.
com). and the author of 50 Ways to /mprove Your
TeJephonmg and Teleconferenclng Skilfs (Summer-
~ town). Contact: [email protected]Business Sp:xlighl 43