Confident Personal Communications
Module 5
“Consider this. You never get a second chance to listen to someone the first time. Because if you’re daydreaming that might be the precise moment they’re sharing the key bit of information . . . or if you ask them to repeat what they’ve said, they may repeat what they’ve said in a less powerful way.
Or they may be thinking – is this person really interested in me. Or perhaps you’ve heard what the person has said but because your focus was fuzzy you weren’t prepared to immediately act on what the person has said.
If you’re like most people you’d rather listen to yourself think you own thoughts than listen to someone else.
Here are the key messages to take away for this Module:
Use the DBAE (Don’t Be Anywhere Else) technique to stay focussed when listening
Here’s how the technique works in practice.
When you are in a meeting simply write DBAE in the right hand corner of your meeting pad.
This simple DBAE technique will prompt you to stay in the moment in meetings and to not daydream.
Another way to use the listening focus technique is to imagine that DBAE is written on the forehead of the other person.
Key Message
Use the DBAE (Don’t Be Anywhere Else) technique to stay focussed when listening
To do right now, or to complete within the next 30 minutes:
Take a post-it note write DBAE on a post-it note. Stick the note somewhere where you will see it often and other people will see it often.
If a colleague asks what it stands for you can explain it. A great to learn something is to teach it to someone else.
You could also see if one of your colleagues can guess what the acronym stands for.
As well, in your compendium or notepad write DBAE in the top right corner so it will be there for your next meeting. If you use an iPad or Laptop, put DBAE in the footer of documents you create. When you’re in a meeting you’ll always have the ‘daydream prevention’ prompt down the bottom of your page.
What else could you do to put into practice ideas from this Module? Take 13 seconds to see if an idea pops up. Maybe watch the Module again if you have time.
