The most important factor in communicating more effectively is actually the opposite of talking. It’s improving your listening skills. You must learn to start asking questions and listen attentively without interruptions. As a rule you pay attention to people you most value. When you pay close attention to another person when they are talking, you signal to that person that you very much value them and the content of their comments. This is very flattering to another person and it causes them to respond warmly to your attentiveness. The major reason that most people have poor listening skills is that they’re busy preparing a reply while the other person is still speaking. In fact, they’re not even listening closely to what the other person is saying. They are thinking of other things and formulating their comments to be ready as soon as the other person takes a breath. Effective communication requires that you face the other person directly, lean slightly forward and hang on to every word, listen as though there were nothing else in the world more fascinating to you than what the other person is saying.