SING-A-LONG OR LISTEN

During my run this morning I was happily listening to the sound track of Frozen. While this may shock a few of you given my kids are 17 and 14, it will be of no surprise to my friends who are still baffled by the fact I listen to Wham and Abba on a regular basis.

What really caught my attention was when I was singing along to Let it Go, a song that has sold over ten million copies in 2014. All of a sudden I realised I wasn’t really listening to the words. These words –

“It’s funny how some distance, makes everything seem small. And the fears that once controlled me, can’t get to me at all. It’s time to see what I can do, to test the limits and break through. No right, no wrong, no rules for me. I’m free!”

How many people can relate to the messages from this famous Disney song?

The reason I share this with you is because so often we are sitting in meetings with people we have known for a long time and we start singing a-long to their story.

The point is – Are we really listening?

According to Dick Lee and Delmar Hatesohl from the University of Missouri we speak approximately 125 words per minute yet we can hear at 400 words per minute. This gives our mind space to fill and wander. It allows us to think about what we want to say next or plan our dinners rather than be present in the room.

Imagine how many great messages we miss out on in life by forgetting to truly listen.

So next time you are in a meeting, interviewing someone or selling one of your products, use this Small Act of remembering the Sing-a-long versus Listening metaphor to keep you Frozen in the moment.