How to Listen with Intention: The Foundation of True Connection, Communication, and Relationships (How to be More Likable and Charismatic) Paperback – June 16, 2020

This book did a great job in explaining core concepts of building solid interactions with people. I would sometimes wonder why some interactions that I had with people that I had just met were extremely successful, while others were the picture of utter disaster. Well, I did not realize my listening style and frames (explained in this book) was not matching that of the person I was communicating with, when it was an unsuccessful interaction. That equates and equated to a bad conversation or an unsuccessful interaction. The book kept my attention and was entertaining while being extremely helpful. I will definitely read more from the author. 10 for 10 if you are trying to level up your experience with people, and understand people better.

What I like about this one:- TBH, relatively short, as I'm not a fast reader- very well structured, with summary notes at the end of each section- very simple and straightforward concepts that are easy to understand- simple honest talk, just like you would like a friend to be

I liked the book overall. Not a lot that can't be obtained through intuition, but there are definitely some conversational subtleties particularly related to subtext which I feel were well-worded. If you are having trouble effectively communicating with others, I feel this book will help. If you're already a good communicator, I think you'll find some nice examples to help youget even better.

This is a must read for anyone who wants to improve relationships in the family, at work or in general. I have gifted it but won't give away my well highlighted copy as I intend to go back again and again until I master this very important quality.

I thought I was listening well but my girlfriend kept telling me I wasn’t listening to her. So I looked for a book that would help. This book is very “to the point” which I appreciate. Not a lot of wasted pages and words, just straight to clear instructions of how to change my approach to conversations. Watch for words I use that shift the focus away from her and to me (avoid those words). Identify her emotions and label them, say things like “it sounds like you feel (fill in the blank)” and then “if I were in your shoes I would feel the same way”. Those are just a couple examples from this book.It worked like magic! The past couple weeks my girlfriend has said things like “thanks for being such a good listener”, which is the opposite of what she had been saying the past several months.

I enjoyed reading this book and thought that it provided some good ideas for improving my listening skills. I would recommend to this for anyone who wants to learn how to be a better listener, especially to those who are important to you.

I appreciated the categorizes and types of listening. How to listen critically and actively. its makes a good note to check your ego while talking to others and how to be a little bit more humble in a conversation. But there is one lurking danger the author doesn't really address and it bothers me.The author almost never talks about disagreeing as the listener. (He does in a couple sentences but does not cover it well)He talks about empathetic listening and being an active listener. Which is good and I agree.What happens though when you begin to actively listen with most people you have a conversation with?We subject ourselves to everyone's ideas when we listen to them.If we are more critical and active as listeners you can be sure to receive that information much clearer than "pretend listening".Not only that but the author suggests that we should almost code switch and agree to validate someone's feelings just so we can be better listeners. I fundamentally disagree with this too much. Just because someone feels a certain way does not mean I must validate that feeling. This book seems as if it is people pleasing rather than having a little more technique. However the techniques that are presented in the first half of the book I find refreshing.

Make it the one book you read this year.There has never been greater benefit than mastery of a skill to be a good person and being a great listener is a great start.Patrick King’s writing is simple, succinct and more importantly easy to digest.I’ve moved onto his 2nd book “ Train Your Empathy. I believe he’s got 41 of those books and I’ve ordered total 6 after much careful selection.“ How to listen with intention “ covers the same well-known concept yet it’s distilled down to Real conversation and an alternative to go both ways.Decide, make it your first step toward a good person and embracing this lifelong skill to be an intentional conversationalist.Decide, to be a good person— not merely words but in action!