Listening: The Forgotten Skill: A Self-Teaching Guide (Wiley Self-Teaching Guides) [Paperback]

Madelyn Burley-Allen (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0471015873 | ISBN-13: 978-0471015871 | Publication Date: February 1995 | Edition: 2

A proven program for turning effective listening into a powerful business tool Managers and other employees spend more than 40 percent of their time listening to other people but often do it so poorly that the result is misunderstood instructions, misdirected projects, and erroneous actions--millions of dollars' worth of mistakes just because most people don't know how to listen. In this new edition of her classic guide to the art of effective listening, Madelyn Burley-Allen shows you how to acquire active, productive listening skills and put them to work for you--professionally, socially, and personally. With her time-tested techniques, you'll learn how to:
* Eliminate distractions and improve your concentration on what is being said
* Locate key words, phrases, and ideas while listening
* Cut through your own listening biases
* Interpret body language clues
* Ask constructive, nonthreatening questions that elicit real information
* Get others to listen to you
* Master a whole range of listening skills that you can use on the job and in your personal life
Listening: The Forgotten Skill uses an interactive learning approach with work-sheets, charts, graphs, and self-tests that help you pace and monitor your own progress.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

A proven program for turning effective listening into a powerful business tool Managers and other employees spend more than 40 percent of their time listening to other people but often do it so poorly that the result is misunderstood instructions, misdirected projects, and erroneous actions—millions of dollars’ worth of mistakes just because most people don’t know how to listen. In this new edition of her classic guide to the art of effective listening, Madelyn Burley-Allen shows you how to acquire active, productive listening skills and put them to work for you—professionally, socially, and personally. With her time-tested techniques, you’ll learn how to:

• Eliminate distractions and improve your concentration on what is being said
• Locate key words, phrases, and ideas while listening
• Cut through your own listening biases
• Interpret body language clues
• Ask constructive, nonthreatening questions that elicit real information
• Get others to listen to you
• Master a whole range of listening skills that you can use on the job and in your personal life

Listening: The Forgotten Skill uses an interactive learning approach with work-sheets, charts, graphs, and self-tests that help you pace and monitor your own progress.

About the Author

MADELYN BURLEY-ALLEN, the founder and president of Dynamics of Human Behavior, has conducted over 2,000 seminars on listening and management for organizations around the world. A frequent speaker at state and national conferences, she has consulted for such companies as AT&T, DuPont, IBM, and LeviStrauss. Her work has been covered in numerous magazines and newspapers, including Glamour and Working Woman, and she has appeared on several national television and radio shows. She is the author of three books, including Managing Assertively: How to Improve Your People Skills, also available from Wiley.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 2 edition (February 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471015873
• ISBN-13: 978-0471015871
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #49,964 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

86 of 88 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent reference and guide, May 23, 2001

By 

Neil "nwcs" (Tennessee) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Listening: The Forgotten Skill: A Self-Teaching Guide (Wiley Self-Teaching Guides) (Paperback)

This book is written mainly for the business audience, but all the principles are applicable to every situation. The author is very good at explaining scenarios and solutions. Other authors spend the bulk of their time explaining why we need to listen, but Burley-Allen spends the bulk of her time explaining how to listen. That alone places this book on a more productive plane than most books on this topic. You'll be impressed with how things change in your inter-personal communication at work and at home with the adoption of even a few principles from this book.

53 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book - revealing and practical, November 15, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (New York City) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Listening: The Forgotten Skill: A Self-Teaching Guide (Wiley Self-Teaching Guides) (Paperback)

I strongly recommend this book for just about everyone. I believe that most of us have huge room for improvement in the area of listening ( if you don't agree, the author will probably convince you of this). The book provides information on typical listening styles, why most of us listen the way we do, and methods for improving your skills. Unlike some other books which confine themselves to the detrimental effects of not listening properly, this one gives you plenty of practical guidance on things you can do to enhance your abilities in this most difficult of communication skills.

32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Listening the Forgotten Skill-Something for Everyone, August 24, 2000

By 

Kimberly Allen (Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Listening: The Forgotten Skill: A Self-Teaching Guide (Wiley Self-Teaching Guides) (Paperback)

I just recently read this book, and was amazed at what I needed to learn, for professional and personal reasons. This book shows you areas where people, businesses and organizations are lacking in communication skills due to the fact that we don't listen and we are not being heard. In this book, the Author Madelyn Burley-Allen, with her years of research and teaching on this subject, she gives you ways of improving your listening communication skills as well as how to speak effectively so that you are listened to. This book provides vital solutions for improving your listening and communication skills. I thoroughly enjoyed the book. It is very informative and helpful and will continuely be a source of information in the future.