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How Deep Listening Results to Better Understanding

Communication in today’s landscape is one big irony. While the different forms of digital media are thriving, face-to-face conversations are braving what could be called “dark times.” People today are more preoccupied than before—they tend to listen less and talk more. Unsatisfying communication is rampant in both the small setting and the big picture. We see relationships crumble and fights ensue because of the poor way spouses, parents, children, neighbors, friends, and colleagues communicate. We all suffer and endure the negative consequences of this notorious problem, which exists even among political parties, ethnicities, nations, and religions.
And the most disturbing part is that poor communication seems to be more than just a trend but a facet that is deeply ingrained in our present culture. If we look closely at it, communication seems to be both the problem and the solution. The complication can be traced back to people not showing enough interest or having enough forbearance to purse their lips, open their minds, and simply listen. Poor listening is the problem, and deep listening is the answer. Only by acknowledging this fact and working towards achieving it can we bring about a shift in the way communication works in the digital age.

What Deep Listening Truly Means

Deep Listening as a Tool for Improving the Way We Communicate
We all know and practice active listening, which entails repeating what the speaker says and seeking clarification for ambiguous ideas. While active listening is highly encouraged, to truly solve the problem of poor communication, we need to master deep listening, a more contemplative form of communication that involves listening to oneself before others.
Deep listening occurs when your mind is quiet and you’re able to suspend your reactive thinking and just open your thoughts to every possibility. It entails what John Keats called negative capability, which refers to when you’re “capable of being in uncertainties, mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact and reason.” The nature of deep listening may appear paradoxical—after all, it claims that to better communicate with others, you must first pay attention to yourself. But by applying the principles of deep listening, you can become a more receptive, emphatic, trusting, and trustworthy listener, which can ultimately lead you to becoming a good communicator.

Three Steps to Connecting with Your Body, Speech, and Mind

Deep Listening as a Tool for Improving the Way We Communicate | meditate | Yoga
According to David Rome and Hope Martin, two trainers who have been studying and teaching deep listening for more than a decade, there are three techniques for tuning in to your mind, body, and speech: awareness meditation, the Alexander technique, and focusing on felt senses. By practicing these techniques, you can keep in touch with all aspects of your being—which is, ultimately, the foundation of deep listening.

1. Awareness Meditation

This type of meditation is known to some as mindfulness and to others, peaceful abiding. Whatever you call it, this principle lies only on two simple ideas: to watch your thoughts come and go without acting on them, and to always return to the present moment no matter what. Usually done in the form of a sitting meditation, it puts emphasis on body presence. One of the main inspirations for this technique is “The Four Foundations of Mindfulness,” an article by Buddhist meditation master Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche. It explains the following:

  • Mindfulness of body. “The basic starting point is solidness, groundedness. When you sit, you actually sit. Even your floating thoughts begin to sit on their own bottoms. You have a sense of solidness and, at the same time, a sense of being.”
  • Mindfulness of life. “The instinct to live can be seen as containing awareness, meditation, mindfulness. It constantly tunes us into what is happening. So, the life force that keeps us alive itself becomes the practice of mindfulness.”
  • Mindfulness of effort. “The sudden flash is a key to all Buddhist meditation, from the level of basic mindfulness to the highest levels of tantra. But it is not enough just to hope that a flash will come to us; there must be a background of discipline.”
  • Mindfulness of mind. “Mind functions singly. Once. And once. One thing at a time. Things always happen one at a time, in a direct, simple movement of mind. Mindfulness of mind is to be there with that one-shot perception, constantly.”

Deep Listening as a Tool for Improving the Way We Communicate | Awareness Meditation

2. The Alexander Technique

This principle is what molds you into developing equanimity so that you can avoid becoming a victim of your life circumstances. It enables you to look after yourself while facing the rigorous demands of life. By assuming an objective point of view, you not only open your mind to see how you interfere with your natural and intrinsic inclinations but also discern which habits and qualities you should let go of.

3. Focusing on Felt Senses

Originating from Western philosophy, this technique involves cultivating three inner skills: self-knowledge, a caring presence, and an intuitive insight. As its name suggests, this principle involves noticing your senses as you feel them. Usually, you don’t pick up these senses in your attention radar, but if you try to be more attentive to your emotions, you will be able to notice them easily. By noticing these sensations before acting on them, you’ll be able to choose your words and actions better in future arguments, helping you improve the way you communicate.
The sum of these three contemplative practices is powerful enough to effect a dramatic change that can impact everyone. If only more people learn and apply these valuable skills, we could all see a significant shift in the quality of communication in the twenty-first century.
 

References:

Bailey, Joe. “What Is Deep Listening?” Goodlife Zen. n.d. goodlifezen.com/what-is-deep-listening
Popova, Maria. “The Art of ‘Negative Capability’: Keats on Embracing Uncertainty and Celebrating the Mysterious.” Brain Pickings. n.d. www.brainpickings.org/2012/11/01/john-keats-on-negative-capability
Rinpoche, Chogyam Trungpa. “The Four Foundations of Mindfulness.” Lion’s Roar. November 30, 2016. www.lionsroar.com/the-four-foundations-of-mindfulness
“Deep Listening.” Mindful. n.d. www.contemplativemind.org/practices/tree/deep-listening
“Deep Listening.” Mindful. August 26, 2010. www.mindful.org/deep-listening
 

3D Backgrounds: Adding Depth and Dimension to Your Prezi

What else can you do to enhance your audience’s visual experience? Aside from customizing your prezi, is there any other way to add something more to your presentations? For this week’s Prezi Feature, we take a closer look at 3D backgrounds. 

One of the many advantages of Prezi is the flexibility it offers. Unlike linear slide presentations, the prezi canvas offers vast space for storytelling. With Prezi, you’re free to transition from one point to another and follow any narrative structure you want. You can also add depth and dimension to your presentations. Give your visual metaphors a whole life of its own with 3D backgrounds.

3D backgrounds can give your visuals a more dynamic look. Prezi makes use of “parallax motion” to create a 3D-like effect as you move around the canvas. With this feature, your background automatically adjusts when you transition along the path. If you layer multiple images in the background, you get a cross fade effect as you zoom in and out of frames.

Check this presentation to see how it all works:

prezi 3d backgrounds sample

How do I add 3D backgrounds to my prezi?

3d backgrounds 03

You can add 3D backgrounds through the Theme Wizard. Access the “Customize” sidebar and look for the “Advanced” option at the very bottom. From there, all you have to do is upload your own images via the 3D Background “Edit” button.

3d backgrounds 01

You can have up to 3 different background layers. Drag and drop the thumbnails to arrange them in the order you prefer.

What tips should I keep in mind?

While working with 3D backgrounds, take note of these four things:

  • Image Size: Make sure your image is at least 3000 pixels wide. Any smaller and your background images might look pixelated once you zoom in your prezi. Be wary of your file size, as well. Larger files might cause your prezi to lag or crash. If your image file is too big, Prezi will automatically ask to resize it.

3d backgrounds 04

  • Similar Images: Since the layers change with a cross fading effect, opt for similar-looking images. If you don’t want to distract the audience, any variation between the 3 images shouldn’t look too jarring.
3d backgrounds 05
markus spiske (Flickr)
  • Readable Content: Keep your content readable by working with simple images. In other words, choose images with plenty of white space and aren’t too “busy”. You can also make use of shapes or the highlighter tool to create contrast between your text and background.

3d backgrounds 06

  • Zooming In and Out: When arranging your content, zoom in and out to transition from one layer to another. Try not to place anything in between transitions. Just keep zooming in until the image becomes clear.

3d backgrounds 07

Learn more by viewing this tutorial by Meaghan Hendricks, a presentation designer at Prezi.

Enhance your visual metaphors by showing depth and dimension in your presentations. Experiment with 3D backgrounds and you can improve your audience’s prezi experience.
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Featured Image: Featured Image: Death to the Stock Photo / Prezi logo via Wikimedia Commons

Survive Your Presentation Info Run with Teamwork!

Creating a compelling business PowerPoint requires more resources than you think.

To convince your investors, you need sales and market data from your accounting teams. Thoroughly pitching your products requires having to talk to your sales and marketing divisions. Meanwhile, you’ve got to coordinate with your creative teams to make your presentation more visually engaging. That’s not counting the coffee, snacks, and energy drinks to keep yourself awake long enough to put all of these together.

Indeed, making your PowerPoint impressive requires considerable effort, but with the right supplies, you’ll survive the worst and power through to the end. Let’s take a look at three tips to make stockpiling your resources easier.

1. Have a Dedicated Information Source

powerpoint information source

Resources are always a necessity for any business. The question is, how much of them do you need? (Michaelson & Michaelson 2010, 16).

The same applies to the information you’ll be using for your presentation. Luckily, there’ll always be someone in your company who can give it to you, be it the marketing team, sales department, or even the middle managers. The trick is to know who holds which information. That way, you’ll avoid asking people who can’t help you or, worse, people who only give blank zombie-like stares, saving you time when gathering information.

Aside from your marketing and sales departments, you could glean insights from your customers to make your presentation more convincing. This information could come from your in-house or partnered research group. It could even come from your customer care people if you have them.

Once you find out who has the info, get to these people… fast.

Other companies are on reconnaissance for bits of info. Like hungry scavengers, they want to find them before you do.

2. Delegate Your Tasks

delegate task

Everyone in the company will be skilled at something (Michaelson & Michaelson 2010, 23) in order to survive.

Simply tossing the entire presentation deck to your admin assistant won’t cut it. Because each of your teams will have their own specialties, it’s best to collaborate when you can.

Better yet, make a quick list of who edits what. This is vital for getting your facts and talking points straight. Your finance team could lay out the data in a more understandable format, your marketing team could simplify the technical words, and your creative team can make the designs more appealing.

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By splitting the work between your departments, you’ll end up finishing the deck faster. With different people and departments adding to the presentation, this will familiarize yourself with each person’s specialized knowledge.

Knowing more about your topic from different perspectives makes you more confident. In effect, you’ll avoid sounding like a droning, aimless zombie when presenting.

3. Communicate Regularly with Your Teams

communicate

Every business grows. Even your competitors.

This is why you have to safeguard your sources while improving your team’s collaboration.

Information isn’t meant to be holed up in a prison. It should be free to spread and grow stronger. There will always be new updates: higher sales figures and projections, new images and designs from your creatives, and new products from your marketing department. In order to keep offering the best for your clients, keep yourself well-stocked with these developments.

Stay ahead of the competition as much as possible. To do that, safeguard the backbone of your business (Michaelson & Michaelson 2010, 87). In this case, this means your information sources. You’ll never know when someone will eventually surround your base and steal your business right from under your nose.

Survival is The Key

survival is the key

In a fast-paced, dog-eat-dog environment, those who allocate and use their resources wisely reach the top of the pile. Your presentation bug-out bag should include all the necessary information to survive any speaking engagement.

Keep yourself updated with everything about the competition, and be on alert for new insights you can use to improve your company. This will keep you ahead of the game, long enough to establish a profitable relationship with your business partners.

To help give you the extra edge, you can even get in touch with a presentation partner. It’ll only take a few minutes for a FREE quote!

Check out and share our infographic with your teammates!

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References

Michaelson, Gerald A., and Steven Michaelson. Sun Tzu the Art of War for Managers, Second Edition: 50 Strategic Rules Updated for Today’s Business. 2nd ed. Avon, Mass.: Adams Media, 2010.

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