Are You Really Listening?: Keys to Successful Communication [Paperback]

Paul J. (Author), Ph.D. Donoghue (Author), Mary E. Siegel (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"While all of us want to be good listeners, in Are You Really Listening?, Drs. Donoghue and Siegel offer a valuable road map to the art of listening. The authors remind us with all-too-recognizable examples of the ways that we don't listen. They have created a simple step-by-step guide on how to be better listeners. I found Are you Really Listening? refreshing, eye-opening, and immensely helpful for my daily life. I trust that you will too." --Joan Lunden, Author and former television co-host of Good Morning America

"This is one 'self-help' book that delivers on its promise. It is a concise, insightful, and instructive tool. It is the sort of book that you want to give to everyone you know." --Hope Renn, CNM, MSN and Cheri Van Hoover, CNM, MS, Journal of Midwifery & Women's Health

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Sorin Books (June 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1893732886
• ISBN-13: 978-1893732889
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #65,880 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars superb resource, August 12, 2005

By 

Rev. Richard R. Mckeon (Dobbs Ferry, New York USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Are You Really Listening?: Keys to Successful Communication (Paperback)

Paul Donoghue and Mary Siegel have written a masterful book which in a very concrete and understandable way educates the reader in the fine art of communication. As a priest, this book is an invaluable resource, as it helps me to be sure that I am communicating clearly and also listening to what is being said to me. By indentifying the many ways that we can slip into old communication patterns, without being aware of it, the authors ensure that anyone reading this book will come away with a new understanding of how to be heard and to listen. It is a gift to anyone for whom clear communications is important in a professional capacity, and perhaps even more, it is a huge help for all personal relationships as well. By simply reading this very clear and concise book, so much pain and misunderstanding could be avoided. We will be using this book in our parish study groups, and have recommended that all the leadership in our parish read it to help make their efforts more effective and meaningful. I recommend this book as a superb tool to everyone, but especially for anyone who has ever had the experience of not being fully heard or understood.

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Service!, August 8, 2005

By 

J. P. Balistreri (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Are You Really Listening?: Keys to Successful Communication (Paperback)

Enjoyably readable, both practical and profound, this book hits all the right notes. As a clinical psychologist I found it so helpful, both in anchoring my approach to clients and in my being able to recommend it to them to help improve, often to rescue, their most important relationships.
In a compact presentation, with a wide array of engaging stories, the authors engender the necessary self-awareness of nonlistening behaviors, practiced with automatic ease even by those who see themselves as good listeners. This discussion lays the groundwork for the presentation of clear steps to skillful listening. In perhaps the greatest service, the authors suffuse this book with the essential spirit and meaning of listening--a vital human act of connecting with another person--for the sake of effectiveness, and for the sake of love.

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Start at Chapter 12, August 21, 2009

By 

Chris (Santa Monica, CA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Are You Really Listening?: Keys to Successful Communication (Paperback)

I bought this book because I felt I needed to develop better active listening skills. This book does teach that - but it spends the first 11 chapters describing why listening is important (and giving examples where listening was needed or helped). Why would you be reading a whole book on the topic unless you already believed listening was important.

Start at chapter 12, where this book then outlines the basic steps to Active Listening in the remaining 4 chapters:
- Listen
- Paraphrase what you have (this demonstrates you are understanding it to the other person)
- Don't react at first - just make sure you're understanding

They dedicate a great deal after chapter 12 to discussing why listening is important as well - so really the first 11 chapters are unnecessary. If I could I would give the first 11 chapters a 1-star review because a lot of what they say is obvious, and the chapters have no advice (other than "listen"). I would then give chapters 12-15 5 stars because they teaches the techniques of active listening very well.