Your Elevator Speech

Have you ever ridden up an elevator and someone asks you, "So tell me about yourself"?

Do you already know what you're going to say?
Do you already have your elevator speech?

Or, are you asking..."what's an elevator speech?"

I'll tell you more about it next week...but keep in mind that it's the first thing you'll need to learn in order to be successful with networking.

Nuff said.

What's in it for me?

There are two stations--FM and AM--that we're always tuned into, and knowing what those stations are help make us not just better listers, but EFFECTIVE listeners.

By being effective listeners, we can understand what our customers are really trying to say and adjust our own communication style to get the message across. By being effective listeners, we can move mountains and make the rain fall down.

Well, 2 out of 4 ain't bad.
Grace Balch kicked off the March 18th session with this image, and letting us know the two most important stations on the dial:

• What's In It For Me?
• Make Me Feel Important And More!

But wouldn't you know that the way to communicate on both of these dials varies because the way in which we tune in depends upon on our own individual listening styles.


There a a total of 5 different listening styles:

• Appreciateive
• Empathic
• Comprehensive
• Discerning
• Evaluative

In the pictures above and below, you can see Mark, Rick, and Cheryle taking the Listening Profile instrument in order to determine their own listening styles?

To be an effective listener, Grace encouraged us to match listening approaches to communication needs. You need to focus on your message's intent, determine the motivation for the listener to tune in, and apply behaviors that accommodate to their listening style.

After discovering our own personal listening styles, we formed small groups to discuss these items:

• How would you explain your listening style to the other groups?
• What behaviors in the workplace exemplify your listening style?
• What can others do to get you to tune in?
• What are the challenges in having your listening style?
• What can you do to overcome problems related to your listening style?

Above, you see Kimberly and Maissha share the highlights of their discussion with UExplore colleagues.
Michelle and Cindy take their turn too.

As well, Crystal, Alexis, Tehseen, Josie, and Katrina share similar listening styles.

Listening to the discusions are members of the "evaluative" listening style group: Rick, Taylor, Kesha, Brian, Scott, and Cheryle.

For good measure, we all participated in a test. Grace played 5 audio tape messages, and we guessed the listening style demonstrated in each audio piece.

And, of course, our score was 100%