The average working adult spends 31.5% of their time listening. According to research by Adler, Rosenfeld, and Proctor, in their seminal research published in the 8th edition of their book, “Interplay: The process of interpersonal communicating”, we spend 70 % of our time communicating and 45% of that time listening. We only spend 21% of our time speaking so you would assume we would become much better at listening.
In her latest book, “WHAT? Did You Really Say What I Think I Heard?” NY Times Business Bestselling author Sharon Drew Morgen says listening and correctly hearing what is intended is not always easy. “The problem is our brain. As listeners, we think there is a direct transmission between words spoken and our interpretation. But the reality is far murkier: just as our eyes take in light and our brains interpret captured images, our ears take in sound and our brains interpret meaning. That means we all see and hear the world uniquely, according to our mental models and filters, and are the effect of what our brains allow us to hear, not necessarily what’s said.”
So, what if we don’t hear what was really said, or intended? Deals can be lost, relationships can be ruined. The cost of misunderstanding can be significant or even incalculable. With so much research and professional help, there are ways to improve. But humans are imperfect and thankfully, technology can help.
Voice and AI technologies are evolving to the point that we can capture everything that was said, segment it into a structure that is easily organized, searchable, and shareable so that you can find what matters from any conversation. We’re not talking about simple voice recordings or complete transcription of voice recordings to text. No one wants to have to re-listen to everything that was said, nor do they always want to read everything that was said. But being able to go back to just what was said about any topic would be a game changer. It’s possible now, and we will share it with the world on soon!
