Thanks for stopping by. Thanks also for the insightful comment. I agree one should practice active listening. Even in this example, i quoted, i actually enjoyed listening to the entrepreneur. Your systemid-diagrams on communication is very interesting. I am updating the post to provide a link.

-Sukumar

I came here via Archana Raghuram’s excellent Science, Books & Stories blog, where she mentioned her connection with you.

I’m commenting on this post because conversation as an art and science is of great interest to me – I think it’s a glue that holds the world together, and is a powerful tool for changing it for the better. I really like what you say about the importance of listening, which wholly resonates with my experience.

From my experience, I would add that to be a good conversationlist, the listening has to be a ‘deep practice’ of – metaphorically – ‘holding’ someone else in my attention. Also, I would suggest that if and when I do express myself in conversation with another, it’s because I do so in relation to various distinctions that are significant to me. My point is that, when another ascribes me to being a good conversationalist – even if I am spending a lot of time listening – my listening is not at all passive: I am attending to the distinctions that arise in conversation and, particularly, looking out for the distinctions that are important to me.; and I suggest this is so even regardless of whether the distinctions are explicitly expressed by my co-conversationlist, or are triggered indirectly by her or him…

Please, for more of my thoughts on communication visit:

http://sumptuous.wordpress.com/systemic-diagrams/

Thank you for reading my comment,

drfrank