"I like to listen. 
I have learned a great deal from listening carefully.
Most people never listen."
Ernest Hemingway

And then there was PowerPoint ... admittedly in 1987 under the name Presenter and not yet owned by Microsoft. After some innovations, it was renamed PowerPoint and was the tool of choice for organizations eager to be custodians of creative incubators. Sending ideas was the new creed from then on. Decision-makers needed to be convinced of innovative ideas. For years we were bombarded to death with presentation training to convincingly win over the right people. In a tight marketing corset you have to get your story across - that is the essence of presentation and training. Everyone today has to learn to present and talk and more talking. 

Not only has this technological development kicked off the process of ending listening to each other, but the meaning of word listening has also changed. It has lost value. We mean entirely different things between the lines than in the past. Sometimes people say “Yes, of course you hear me, but you don't listen.” What they actually mean is that you don't do what they want, you don't obey them. This is the message they are actually saying, “Well you should listen to me! No, I don't want to hear it again.” Listening is somewhat different from hearing, listening is listening to another person with attention. Currently, the concept of listening is often used to use (informal) power, that the sender demands that the receiver do what he asks!

We are all so busy transmitting that meanwhile no one hears each other anymore. Sitting deep in our own hand-dug trenches or behind barriers raised high and sucked further and further into our own bubbles. With the further rise of the Internet, modern tools like Youtube, TikTok, AI, podcasts and the like have been added. A characteristic of all these tools is that we can't really talk, discuss, debate or engage in dialogues with each other, everything is focused on broadcasting. Not knowing that in doing so, the art of listening has been killed. This is such a shame, it creates a lack of new momentum and supported ideas that really move us forward. 

The current idea-less era calls for a new approach, namely reviving the power of listening. Ultimately, you have some of the wisdom, but a significant part of it is certainly not. You can only fill that gap by listening. The art of listening starts with showing genuine attention to another person, that you are curious, can put aside your own opinion and respect the other person's worldview. Furthermore, asking sincere questions helps that the other interlocutor feels safe enough so that they share their hidden agenda and deeper underlying arguments with you. Always make sure that the person listening is actually heard. Only in this way will you know that you are sharing and pooling knowledge.