An interesting guide to practice listening.
Some remarks might sound familiar and known but at times one might not take into consideration, so it can be a good reminder to polish skills

3.5 stars, rounded up to 4.

I've read plenty of books over the years on personality types and, most notably, introversion. While many cover listening to some degree, I've not found a book entirely dedicated to the topic until now.

Oscar Trimboli's _How to Listen_ is a welcome addition to the genre, and provides not only helpful anecdotes illustrating the point (ohhh the doctor who first discovered the covid-19 strain #weep), but also plenty of research and advice that even the introverts among us, like myself, can implement right away. I like to think I listen well, but this read challenged that, in a good way!

A recommended read, no matter where you fall on the extroversion/introversion spectrum; we can all learn something here!

I received an eARC of the book from the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

I was not sure about the book when I picked it up from NetGalley (thanks to the publisher for giving me a review copy), since this was about listening. I thought what can Oscar inform me about listening that I already did not know from my 20+ years at work. As I near the end of this book I realized that there is a lot that Oscar has taught me about listening which is immensely useful and practical.

He gets me hooked on to the topic by providing me some scientific data from deep listening research - that we talk at 125 words per min, listen at 400 words pm, and think at 900 words pm!! This fact was something that I did not know or maybe even think about. This data clearly indicates that there is a problem inherent in communication - being unable to convey what goes on in our minds at broadband speed and finally gets choked to be delivered at dial-up speeds! I absolutely loved this piece of knowledge.

Then he goes on in detail to provide lot of inputs about how to focus on the unsaid parts in conversation and listen for the meaning in it. All of it is substantiated with lots of examples and conversations.

This is definitely a great resource for everyone especially leaders who need to be using this skill a lot!

A book with a huge (and also extremely necessary nowadays)message and reflection that altough it is focused here in the workplace, surely suits well in every human kind of relationship. Human being is used to think that, the act of speak, use their voice is a reflection of power and strenght, and like We're experiencing now, There's a lot of noise in the world, and little understanding about what is being said. So We have to traind our minds for listening well, and carefully to what kind of message are we sending to and receiving from society. I liked a lot the pratical tips in the narrative, and the precise and clear thoughts the the author has exposed in the book. I definitely would recommend this one. Well done, guys!

An informational guide to improving my listening skills. I found the exercises useful and while some of the material is repetitive from other books I’ve read on this topic, a helpful resource.

ARC was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

How to Listen is an insightful book about the importance of listening deeply and actively and contains actionable exercises and practices aimed to help the reader improve their ability to listen thoughtfully and with intention.

The book is structured around the 5 Levels of listening: yourself, content, context, unsaid, and meaning. As the reader moves through the book, each "level" builds on the foundation of what was shared in the previous section. The levels are presented as a social-ecological model, or nested circles, which remains a helpful visual throughout the book and allows readers to easily mark their learning journey. Though this visual is helpful, as a reader, I did find that there was a lot of overlap in the external three levels of context, unsaid, and meaning. I spent more time as a reader trying to delineate between these levels than focus on the fact that they were simply trying to address external and contextual factors that could influence your ability to listen and engage.

My biggest criticism with the book was not in the content, but in the layout. As an e-book, every few pages, you are met with a large white page with one quotation in the center. These quotations completely interrupt the flow of reading. The quotes themselves don't necessarily reference text from the previous page and can feel completely disjointed. Further, on an e-reader, these white pages have no page numbers, and on several occasions I lost my place in the book. Instead, I'd recommend bolding the original text where it appears in the book instead of inserting a standalone page.

Further, at the end of each section, it could be helpful to have a 1-page summary that condenses what was learned. This helps the reader synthesize what was learned in that section and connect it with previous sections as well.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the content of this book and look forward to utilizing many of the practices and suggestions that are scattered throughout.