Conversations fascinate me.
They've always been the one thing I enjoy the most about the human experience. But the one aspect I discovered much later in life that is such a core part of a great conversation is “involved listening”. Because let's face it, we all focus on what we say and how we respond or just how clever or interesting we can make ourselves to be in the process of being involved in a conversation. And while we've all heard the line "Listen to converse", we haven't understood it.
In his book "Think Again, " Adam Grant touches upon this in the best way possible.
"Listening well is more than a matter of talking less. It's a set of skills in asking and responding. It starts with showing more interest in other people's interests rather than trying to judge their status or prove our own."
Because only when we're genuinely listening, showing interest in what someone else is saying and opening our minds to their perspective are we genuinely conversing. Otherwise, we're just talking. To converse, we need to listen, absorb and respond without judgement.
It's also why the best conversations are the ones with the perfect pauses between one saying something and the other responding.
Weekly Recommendations
➡️ Quentin Tarantino goes on Joe Rogans podcast and the (almost) 3 hour long episode is one of the intriguing deep dives into the mind of a filmmaker who ( whether you like his work or agree with him as a person) is fascinating to say the least.
➡️ The Rise of BookTok might be a sign of things to come. And while we in India dont have Tiktok, this is a trend that might just be beyond platforms but might show something deeper in terms of books coming back in a major way.
👉🏽 https://bit.ly/2V1MZfF
➡️ I discovered Johnny Harris recently on YouTube and the information and how its presented is just 🤯
➡️ And while this is a self-plug I’m not going to call it that because it’s Amit Verma explaining the concept of the super-fan and its one of the best explanations of the topic that I’ve come across.
✌🏽
Conversations aren't really about talking + Weekly recommendations