Listening Skills Checklist: How to Become a Top 1% Listener

The 5 Rules of Becoming a Top 1% Listener

Rule #1: Wait Your Turn

Don’t interrupt the talker
Avoid turning the conversation back to yourself
Don’t change the subject
Listen intently without planning the next thing you’re going to say

Rule #2: Show That You’re Listening

Maintain eye contact
If you’re meeting online, look directly into the camera
Nod your head along
Use facial expressions to show how you’re feeling
Give verbal confirmations (“uh huh,” “yeah,” “okay”)

Rule #3: Ask For More

Identify opportunities to uncover more info
Ask follow up questions
Repeat key phrases with an upward inflection to learn more about them

Rule #4: Get Confirmation

Ask for permission to recap your understanding
Paraphrase and summarize what the other person has said
Ask for their confirmation, and remain silent until they’re finished talking

Rule #5: Reveal Insights

Challenge the other person’s assumptions and understandings
Ask questions that reveal insights and alternatives they hadn’t considers
Respond with relevance

Listening Challenges to Become a Better Listener TODAY

Challenge #1: Repeat and Confirm

Next time you’re in a sales conversation, get confirmation from your prospect following the method outlined in Rule #4 above. Typically the way you’ll do this is by starting with “What I hear you saying is…,” or you can be ultra direct and say: “I’m going to repeat what you said, just to make sure I’m understanding correctly…” You don’t have to repeat what they said verbatim, but you do have to get it right!

Challenge #2: Analyze a Sales Call

Record and play back one of your calls, and look for how much you’re talking versus listening. You can of course use a tool Gong.io to record and analyze your calls for you, which makes the process a whole lot faster. No matter how you do it, look for opportunities you missed ask follow up questions.

Challenge #3: Talk to a Stranger

Here’s the challenge: it’s not just talk to a stranger, the challenge is to get through the conversation without talking about yourself at all. The only way you’ll do that is by asking great questions based on things you’ve already learned. Try it out the next time you’re waiting in line somewhere, or in a Lyft or Uber.

(BONUS) Challenge #4: Ask an Unplanned Question

Effective selling requires a well thought-out plan as well as spontaneity. Challenge yourself to go off script and ask your prospect a question that could only come from the conversation you’re in with them, and see where it takes you.

(BONUS) Challenge #5: Don’t Listen With a Partner

You’ll need a friend or colleague for this one. One person will talk and the other will do two things: 1) not make eye contact, and 2) respond with zero relevance to the talker. Then you’ll trade notes on how it felt, and switch. This’ll cure you of poor listening skills pretty quickly!