In my listening seminars and university classes, students learn that empathic listening, or listening from the heart, will affect other aspects of communication. Colin Firth makes a similar point in the article from the Wall Street Journal mentioned in yesterday’s blog.
There he recounts what it was like to play the role of a stutterer as King George VI. In talking about the difficulty in taking on such a role, he said, "…whenever I play someone who suffers, I feel there's a danger that I'm an imposter. So it's a relief that people who stammer haven't felt misrepresented." Then he said, in concluding his point, "When there's a story that takes everyone through something like this, it's a way to say to others, 'Now you live through it and see how it feels.'"
That is why, in most conversations, you relate best and hold the attention of the other when that person feels you understand and are concerned.
