Key Management Development Models

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Critical listening

The big picture

The goal of critical listening is to scrutinise or evaluate what someone else is saying and respond with your own thoughts on the issue. It is easier to listen critically when you have a high level of subject knowledge or a real vested interest in the topic being discussed. Your aim is to evaluate someone else’s argument rationally and objectively.

When to use it

Critical listening can be used when:

• you need to understand someone else’s viewpoint before making a decision or taking action;
• you need to gather information, separating it from an emotive argument;
• you don’t know which side to take in a dispute and need more information before you can make that decision.

How to use it

1. Analyse the speaker’s motivation. ...