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the benefits are that we are likely to

get better information and to improve

our business relationships by giving

others the feeling that they are being

listened to. So don’t be afraid to clar-

ify regularly. You can use phrases

such as:

nDo you mean that...?

nWhat do you mean by ... exactly?

nWhen you say quality is important,

what do you mean exactly by quality?

nWhy do you say that?

Express appreciation

TIP 6 explicitly

Everyone needs to feel some form of

appreciation and recognition. But sec-

ond-language users often fail to show

enough explicit appreciation or

give positive feedback when they are

listening. Maybe the difficulty of

decodingwords, grammar and mean-

ing means that many people ignore

the relationship aspect of communi-

cation. If you do this, the danger is

that you may seem to be very quiet

and mostly interested in expressing

your own opinions. Taking time to sig-

appreciation Wertschätzung

[E)pri:Si(eIS&n]

appropriate situationsgerecht,

[E(prEUpriEt] angemessen

assess sth. [E(ses] etw. einschätzen

clue [klu:] Hinweis

decode sth. [di:(kEUd] etw. entschlüsseln

embarrassment Verlegenheit

[Im(bÄrEsmEnt]

explicitly [Ik(splIsItli] ausdrücklich, auf

deutliche Weise

facial expression Gesichtsausdruck

[(feIS&l Ik)spreS&n]

frown [fraUn] Stirnrunzeln

happy [(hÄpi] hier: zufrieden

irritated [(IrIteItId] verärgert

irritation [)IrI(teIS&n] Verärgerung

mood [mu:d] Stimmung

phrase [freIz] Formulierung

rapport Verbindung; hier:

[rÄ(pO:] Übereinstimmung

ther concentrated engagement or

irritation. A smile may be a sign of

rapportor of nervous embarrass-

ment. Try to discover what the speak-

er means by particular non-verbal

signals. If it is appropriatein the con-

text, you can also check whether your

interpretations are correct:

nYou seem to me to be a little worried/

irritated/concerned by that.

nAre you happy with that?

nIs everything OK?

nal appreciation and recognition can

create a strong emotional connection

between the speaker and the listener:

nOh, that’s interesting.

nI see. That sounds fascinating.

nThat’s an important idea.

nI can see that you have a lot of expe-

rience with...

“Listen” for non-verbal

TIP 7 signals

Listening isn’t simply about the words

that you hear. It’s also about what

you can see. Good listeners check

regularly for cluesabout how others

are feeling.

Watch the speaker to check for eye

contact, facial expressionsand energy

levels. Does the speaker seem happy

with you as a listener? Have you ever

asked yourself that question?

When communicating in a foreign

culture and/or with people whom we

are meeting for the first time, our

ability to assesstheir moodis often

more limited. What we see and feel

may not be what is really happening.

For example, a frownmay signal ei-

“Listening isn’t simply about what you hear.

It’s also about what you can see”

iStock

4

Not just words: watch

out for other signals

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