Authentic conversations deal with interpersonal relationship and trust issues. They focus on restoring relationship and trust when breakdowns occur, to ensure ongoing alignment and commitment is present in the relationship. Developing authentic listening skills is a key element in successfully resolving interpersonal concerns. Authentic listening occurs when listeners respond to the speaker in ways, which indicate that they care about what the person is saying and give the person every opportunity to complete his or her train of thought. The idea is to let the speaker know without a doubt that you are focusing your attention on the speaker’s words and feelings with the specific intent to understand the point they are trying to make. To do this, the listener has to focus on all elements of the speaking map shown below. The listener has to make mental notes about what elements of the speaking map the speaker is disclosing, and what elements the speaker is not disclosing. You will see in importance of this in future posts.
