Listen Up or Lose Out: How to Avoid Miscommunication, Improve Relationships, and Get More Done Faster

Learning how to actively listen and absorb what a person is saying, thinking, and feeling can set the stage for dramatically improved relationships and increased personal success.

Most people retain only a fraction of what they hear, resulting in miscommunications and lost opportunities. In Listen Up or Lose Out, communications expert Robert Bolton highlights the underestimated and under-utilized tool of active listening and explains how it can be used to gather perspectives, bridge differences, and resolve problems.

Bolton teaches you key communication skills by:

• breaking down listening into a set of learnable skills such as avoiding the urge to criticize, question, or advise;
• focusing on the speaker’s point of view;
• asking the right questions, in the right order;
• and learning how to read people’s feelings and reflect them back

Listen Up or Lose Out explains how one can become a skilled listener who experiences fewer conflicts, makes better decisions, and discovers opportunities that others might miss. Whether personally or in business, could you benefit from better communication? Give listening a try!

ROBERT BOLTON, PH.D., is known for his expertise in training trainers. He is a cofounder of Ridge Associates, a training and consulting firm that serves many Fortune 500 companies, and the author of several books.

DOROTHY GROVER BOLTON, ED.M., are known for their expertise in training trainers. They are cofounders of Ridge Associates, a training and consulting firm that serves many Fortune 500 companies, and the authors of several books including the perennially popular People Styles at Work . . . And Beyond.