As a past president and life member of the International Listening Association, I urge you to read this note from the ILA Executive Director:

If you’ve been thinking of joining the International Listening Association (ILA), yet you keep putting off sending in your dues, then now is the BEST time for you to act.

In less than one week, membership dues are going to be increasing by 20 percent. Yet, if you join/renew before April 1 (traditionally referred to as April Fool’s Day), you will be, in essence, saving 20 percent.

At the annual convention this past week, the ILA membership voted to increase dues for all members by approximately 20 percent. Although we work hard to keep expenses as low as possible, as you know, costs have risen substantially since our previous increase in 2006. Dues for membership levels paid before April 1 (with anniversary dates before April 1) will remain at the current levels.

And if you are already a regular or student member, you should seriously consider a lifetime membership at the lower price of $1,000. Starting April 1, the price goes up to $1,5000 (or installments for five years of $350 for a total of $1750). In return, lifetime members receive reduced convention fees each year. All the current lifetime members would agree that this expenditure is very worthwhile.

You can complete a membership application or membership renewal online or download a PDF of the membership form. We look forward to seeing your name on the ILA membership roster!

Keep listening!

As always, 

At the 30th annual convention of the International Listening Association, I had the opportunity to give this presentation on integrating social media into the college classroom. There were many many questions and great discussion among the participants in the workshop.

If you download the presentation directly from SlideShare, you can see notes for each slide.

At the 30th annual convention of the International Listening Association, I had the opportunity to give this presentation today. If you download the presentation directly from SlideShare, you can see notes for each slide.

Listening has always been social. And now it’s part of social media, too.

So that even more people can learn about the impact listening has on our lives, please join me (@barbaranixon) in live-tweeting the International Listening Association conference this week in Milwaukee, WI.

When you are in a session, or after a session is done, let others know your impressions of the highlights of the session using Twitter, a microblogging service, in 140-character messages. You can tweet from your computer (if you have wifi Internet access or from your cell phone by texting to 40404.)

• Sign up for an account at Twitter or sign into your existing Twitter account.
• Tell the name of the session and who the presenters are.
• Distill highlights of the session into 140-character nuggets.
• End each highlight with the “hashtag” #listen09
• Read what others are saying about the ILA conference sessions by going to http://tinyurl.com/listen09

Questions? Find me. I’ll be around at the conference (usually wearing pink & black). Or send me a tweet!

Do you ever find yourself falling into any of these habits? If so, it’s likely that you’re annoying your co-workers.

1. Interrupting your co-workers.
2. Not looking at your co-workers while you are talking to them.
3. Rushing your co-workers and making them feel that they’re wasting your time.
4. Showing interest in something other than understanding your co-workers and their needs.
5. Getting ahead of your co-workers who are speaking and finishing their thoughts for them.
6. Not responding to your co-workers’ requests or questions.
7. Saying, “Yes, but . . .,” when your co-workers ask you a challenging question, which can sound like you’re discounting their opinions or thoughts.
8. Focusing on YOU and not your co-workers by topping your co-workers’ stories with “That reminds me. . .” or “That’s nothing, let me tell you about what happened to me. . .”
9. Forgetting that your co-workers’ vocabulary may not be as large as yours, and using words that they don’t understand.
10. Talking, when you should be listening.

Learn more about the impact listening has on our lives at the International Listening Association website: http://www.listen.org.

Adapted from “10 Irritating Listening Habits” by Larry Barker & Kittie Watson, found in Listen Up: What You’ve Never Heard About the Other Half of Every Conversation.

[Republished from July 28, 2008]

The little child whispered, “God, speak to me.” And a meadowlark sang. But the child did not hear. So the child yelled, “God, speak to me!” And the thunder rolled across the sky. But the child did not listen. The child looked around and said, “God let me see you.” And a star shone brightly. But the child did not notice. And the child shouted, “God show me a miracle!” And a life was born. But the child did not know. So the child cried out in despair, “Touch me God, and let me know you are here!” Whereupon God reached down and touched the child. But the child brushed the butterfly away and walked away unknowingly. Take time to listen. Often times, the things we seek are right underneath our noses. Don’t miss out on your blessing because it isn’t packaged the way that you expect. — Anonymous
 
The ear trieth words as the mouth tasteth meat. — Job 33:16

Take heed then how you hear… — Luke 8:18

If any man have ears to hear, let him hear…with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you. And unto you who hear shall more be given. — Mark 4:23-24
 

Just remaining quietly in the presence of God, listening to Him, being attentive to Him, requires a lot of courage and know-how. — Thomas Merton

Let thy ear be attentive. — Nehemiah 1:6

Let the wise listen and add to their learning and let the discerning get guidance. — Proverbs 1:5

Even a fool is thought wise if he keeps silent and discerning if he holds his tongue. — Proverbs 17:28  

He who answers before listening—that is his folly and his shame.     — Proverbs 18:13

Listen children and be attentive, that you may gain insight.     — Proverbs 4:1 

Live with men as if God saw you, and talk to God as if men were listening. — Athenodorus\

To listen to some devout people, one would imagine that God never laughs. — Ghose Aurobindo
 

If you were once connected with someone, does it make sense that the connection is broken just because of a physical death? No, the connection stays. You may just have to listen differently. You may just have to talk differently. The truth is: the connection is never broken. — Chris Collins

The reason we listen to individuals with receptivity and respect is that we never know whom the Spirit of Christ might choose to speak through on any given occasion. — Martin B. Copenhaver

If we have listening ears, God speaks to us in our own language, whatever that language be. — Mahatma Gandhi

Be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger.— James 1:19

One of the things that makes God different from people is that God is always available to listen. —Rabbi David Wolpe

Listen earnestly to anything [your children] want to tell you, no matter what. If you don’t listen eagerly to the little stuff when they are little, they won’t tell you the big stuff when they are big, because to them all of it has always been big stuff. But unless they are talking to you, stay out of it. Indiscriminate eavesdropping is a threat to parental sanity. — Catherine M. Wallace

[Adapted from a post from March 2008]