Deep Listening
What is Deep Listening about ?
The originator of Deep Listening, Warren Ziegler, describes six modes of Deep Listening. An experienced listener can weave them together or dance between them, for the beginner it can be good to practise them one at a time. They are:
- Be silence – Do not respond in any way to the talker, either with words or with body language. Look away. No eye contact. This is not something you do, not a task but a state of being. Thus, be silence throughout your whole being.
- Give attention – This is an early form of the sixth mode, emptying. Focus your entire self on what the speaker is saying, to the exclusion of all else. Their words are the only reality.
- Be empathic – This is a grand act of the imagination through which spirit lives. Enter the talker's story and live it as your own. Feel it in your body, your mind, your spirit, as if you were living her story with her.
- Be non-judgmental – A difficult practice when the talker offers images (values, ideas, intentions) in conflict with yours! But essential if you are to allow the other to come to the fullness of their images before judgement is rendered, whether their own judgement or yours.
- Nurture – This is an advanced form of being empathic. Enter into the talker's story and help them search for elements they may have missed. Remember: it's their story, not (yet) yours. Ask a question only if you must ask it in order to clarify what the speaker means - a ‘compelling question’.
- ‘Empty’ – Put to one side (‘park’) your present: your longings, knowledge and experience, hopes, dreams, problems, visions. When you do that, you will find your way to deep listen to your creative side without any limitations. Basically you're in meditation mode, focusing not on your own breathing or your mantra but on the words of the speaker.
Deep Listening can help in clarifying questions, nourishing relationships, generating new ideas …
Deep Listening to oneself, independent of others, is an effective practice for self awareness.
Deep Listening in pairs or trios is a powerful complement to other methods of peer coaching.
Deep Listening to another can be used for peer coaching, or by coaches and managers.
Audience
Is participant experience relevant for Deep Listening ?


Other prerequisites for participants
Self learner is possible for someone with experience of meditation.
Requirements
Not specifically
Run Through
o A 'starter' question for each participant to put into their own words
o An introduction to the exercise; if all participants have meditative practices of their own, they can use them. Otherwise you may want to offer guidance.
Starter questions for Deep Listening to oneself
The starter question is tailored to the situation. It should be as free of emotions and associations as possible, and should not give any hint as to what might be 'heard'. For instance,
o In an exercise focused on visions for the future, you might start by suggesting 'What images of the future do I carry inside me?'
o If focused on personal development, you might suggest a dual question: 'What aspects of my life am I satisfied with?', and 'What would I like to change?'
o If focused on a relationship: 'What would I prefer to have differently?'
o If focused on a project or other group work: 'What are my feelings about this work?'
In Step 1, participants are invited to rephrase until the question resonates with them and their situation. It helps if they write down their own question.
Introduction
For Step 2, rehearse any introduction with which you are familiar that brings the listener towards the point of inner silence, for example for a meditative practice. A general approach is to pay attention to the body and to breathing, and then to release the body from attention. For instance,
o 'Walk' the listeners through their bodies inviting them to pay attention to each part
o Tell them they may encounter tension, soreness, even pain: to note it but NOT to try to change it, just move on
o You may want to invite them to pay attention to their feelings and their thoughts in a similar way
o Remind them that all is part of who they are; and, they are more than all of that
o Invite them to drop their own question into the silence
Introduction - Describe the characteristics and the process of Deep Listening.
Deep Listen to yourself
Deep Listen to another
Plenary reflection
Second (and third) rounds of Deep Listening to another
Harvest
There is no intended harvest as in gathering content of each participant, but participants may be given time to note down personal insights at the end of the process.
Online
Yes indeed. In fact turning off the video while Deep Listening to each other is even easier than arranging chairs so as not to give unintentional feedback. It can also be done by phone. You may need to make a (neutral!) ‘hum hum’ noise from time to time, to reassure the speaker that you’re still there.
Variations
Impact

project

ERASMUS +
Co-funded by the Erasmus+ Program of the European Union. Find more information about the program and its goals here: https://erasmus-plus.ec.europa.eu/.
Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.
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