Power Listening #1

The first class in this course was held on Friday, March 23, 2007. The class started out discussing what it means to power listen. There were some really great observations about it meaning the presence of the coach, listening for emotions, creating a safe environment for the client. It was also brought up that asking good questions shows good listening, it lets the client know that you care about what they are saying as well as wanting to understand even deeper. Power listening is not just with our ears but with our heart. It was brought up a lot about our body energy, that power listening has to do with how present we are in our body posture. Are we alert? Does note taking help you focus? How do we get into “The Zone”? What do we do to get ourselves ready for power listening?

I am comfortable with power listening. I try to ask simple questions that will continue to draw the client out. I am pretty ok with periods of silence…it usually results in the client taken the next step in their thought process. I try to sit in a comfortable yet upright chair, I take notes on my computer because it helps me focus on key points to what they are saying so that I can be intone with what they are feeling.

What about periods of silence? Allowing silence is difficult but we need to as coaches get comfortable with silence, and even use periods of silence to get the client to say what they may be holding back on. It was brought up that you can actually let the client know that there will be times of silence and that it is ok.