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Listening Lapses: Lessons From Laughable Moments

As The People Skills Coach™, I love learning about people through real-time interactions. It’s especially interesting when the listening lapses are funny or absurd.

Listening Lapses: 3 Laughable Learning Moments.

Listening Lapses: Laughable Learning Moments

1. Fast food fandango.

   I pulled into a fast food drive through. I wasn’t familiar with the chain so I asked: Do you have a green salad w/ grilled chicken on it? The young man replied: We don’t have any Greek salads. Realizing the transmission error, I said: No no, not Greek — green. You know, lettuce. He then replied: Well ma’am, all our salads have lettuce.

   Lesson Learned: Expecting others to understand what we see as common sense is just as absurd as the listening lapse itself.

2. Quibbling questions.

   The gate agent called pre-boarding for priority customers. She asked that everyone else stay seated.

   As we stood in line, a passenger who just arrived in the gate area asked the woman behind me if she was in priority. The woman snapped back: Yes, I can follow directions. The stunned traveler just stared at the woman. Then another recently arrived passenger asked the stunned traveler, is this the priority boarding line? The stunned traveler replied: Yes it is. Just don’t ask her, she’ll bite your head off!

   Lesson Learned: When something seems odd or absurd, assume positive intent. The positive is just as likely as the negative and it prevents embarrassment. Moreover, it can even turn a negative moment into a positive one!

3. Messages that transcend words.

   My friend and I were preparing a Latin dance showcase with our two teachers who were from Eastern Europe. When my friend explained to them they were playing the part of two hot guys, they looked puzzled. We weren’t connecting. The teachers conferred with each other in their native language and then said to us: “Oh, like Chip and Dish Dancers!”

   Lesson Learned: Language doesn’t have to be a barrier to communication. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. Use whatever you know to get you there!

©2014 Kate Nasser, CAS, Inc. Somerville, NJ. I appreciate your sharing the link to this post on your social streams. However, if you want to re-post or republish the content of this post, please email info@katenasser.com for permission and guidelines. Thank you for respecting intellectual capital.

Kate Nasser, The People Skills Coach™, delivers coaching, consulting, training, and keynotes on leading change, employee engagement, teamwork, and delivering the ultimate customer service. She turns interaction obstacles into interpersonal success. See this site for workshop outlines, keynote footage, and customer results.

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Tags: clarity, communication, humor, interaction, interpersonal skills, listening, People Skills, Soft Skills