Deep Listening
Transform Your Relationships with Family, Friends, and Foes
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5.0 • 2 Ratings
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- $1.99
Publisher Description
“If you’ve ever felt like two ears aren’t enough, this book is for you. Deep Listening reveals how we can improve at hearing others—and helping them hear us too.” —Adam Grant, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Think Again and Hidden Potential, and host of the podcast Re:Thinking
Why do so many conversations leave us feeling unheard and disconnected? In Deep Listening, acclaimed BBC journalist, accredited executive coach, and mediator Emily Kasriel argues that it’s because we've forgotten how to truly listen.
Distracted by our own agenda, we so often hear without understanding, impatiently waiting for our turn to speak. In this exploration of transformational listening, Kasriel shows how shifting from surface-level exchanges to Deep Listening can enrich our relationships as friends, parents, and partners, enhance our effectiveness as leaders, and strengthen the fabric of our communities. At a time when divisions within communities, organizations, and families are often a source of profound pain, this book offers inspiration and practical guidance on how we can better listen to each other, even when we fiercely disagree.
Drawing on scientific studies, new research, and powerful stories from legendary listeners in politics, business, and the arts, Kasriel unveils her simple yet transformative eight-step approach. With Deep Listening as your guide, you’ll learn to become a better family member, friend, co-worker and citizen.
At once a practical guide and a heartfelt manifesto, this groundbreaking book challenges us to rethink our approach to listening and in doing so, transform our lives from the inside out. Whether readers seek to strengthen their empathy, boost their performance at work, or foster genuine understanding across cultural, political, and generational divides, Deep Listening provides the tools and inspiration to unlock the power of lasting, meaningful connections.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
BBC journalist Kasriel debuts with a valuable guide to listening in a way that's "transformational" rather than transactional. Explaining that people tend to get in their own way by fidgeting, silently formulating a reply, or generally tuning in "only long enough to mentally sort what your speaker is saying into ready-prepared bins," she contends that such "performative" listening flattens conversational complexity and reduces the openness of one's interlocutor, who anticipates interruptions and has less time to formulate their thoughts. Kasriel outlines eight steps readers can take to become more active listeners, among them cultivating genuine curiosity, using silence to signal respect and give the speaker space to think, and "reflecting back" what one's conversation partner has conveyed. Listening in this way allows for collaborative interactions that expand perspectives and mental frameworks, "liberat us from being marooned in our small lives," she argues. Interweaving research from psychology, peacebuilding, management thinking, and philosophy with personal experience as a reporter in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and Pretoria, South Africa, Kasriel makes a wise if occasionally idealistic case for listening as an underutilized tool for building relationships and bridging divides. It's an encouraging resource for fostering more productive interactions in a polarized world.
Customer Reviews
A definite MUST read!
Amazing! So sorely needed at this crucial time in all our lives!
This Book Will Change How You Listen—Forever
I recently read Deep Listening by Emily Kasriel, and it had a profound impact on me. Having spent over a decade working in Human Services—fields driven by effective communication—I found this book deeply resonant, both professionally and personally.
Kasriel beautifully explores a fundamental yet overlooked skill: the art of truly listening. Her approach isn’t merely theoretical; it’s practical, providing actionable steps that immediately improved how I approach conversations, manage conflicts, and build deeper connections.
The book is clearly structured into three engaging parts:
Part One explains exactly what Deep Listening is and identifies common barriers that prevent genuine understanding.
Part Two offers an easy-to-follow guide through eight powerful steps to master Deep Listening. The chapter on "Listen to Yourself First," focusing on understanding and integrating our personal shadows, profoundly moved me.
Part Three addresses ethical considerations and practical tips for incorporating Deep Listening sustainably into your daily life.
One insight from the book particularly resonated with me:
“You can’t condense the gift of your undiluted attention into a few seconds of hyper-quality presence, but you can bring complete attention and genuine curiosity to whatever time you have available, and in doing so enrich and expand the minutes.”
Kasriel gently encourages us to engage with our internal shadows—those hidden, challenging aspects of ourselves. By compassionately acknowledging these shadows, she shows us how we significantly improve our ability to genuinely connect with and understand others.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to deepen personal relationships, excel professionally through better communication, or simply enhance self-awareness and empathy. Most importantly, Deep Listening empowers you with tools for transformative personal growth that you can apply immediately.