To be sure some people will listen for a few moments, then make their excuses and drift away. But many will be (at best) annoyed and the outcome will be unsatisfactory for everyone.

Brilliant grandmothers the world over have made a cliché out of the notion that we were given two ears and one mouth for a reason. But those who practice ham-handed attempts at engagement behave as if they have a very large mouth and no ears at all.

Successful engagement must begin with a realization that might at first be uncomfortable as communicators and marketers, we no longer control the terms of engagement. The decision to interact is necessarily one of mutual consent.

So before we can engage, we need to take the time to understand the answers to several key questions:

Who might be interested in talking with us?

What are they interested in talking about?

Where and on what terms would they like to connect?

Answering these questions ensures that when we do engage, we will approach the conversations with content that is relevant, timely and interesting.

Effective listening also provides a roadmap for deploying our resources and ensuring that whatever approach we adopt is practical and realistic by helping us prioritize the influencers we might want to engage.

By listening with new intelligence, we can identify the key idea starters and amplifiers. Idea starters are the ones who will spark the conversation. Amplifiers can be anyone. They are the ones who will continue the discussion and advance it through their networks.

Listening can also impact a business beyond communications.

Starbucks (an Edelman US client), for example, has created My Starbucks Idea, a platform for listening to, and co-creating with, its customers that has yielded important suggestions for improving the company’s business.

Ranging from product ideas to operational improvements, Starbucks’ commitment to listening has driven results straight to its bottom line.

Similarly, by listening to its customers wherever they were talking — in this case, Twitter — US cable giant Comcast improved its customer service and, according to its CEO, changed the culture of the company, making it more responsive and engaged.

The risks of failing to listen are massive. In a world where everyone is a publisher and compelling content always manages to find an audience, a crisis can appear from anywhere. Failing to listen can leave us ignorant and impotent.

So if we commit ourselves to  listening, how should we do it?

Listening with new intelligence is a uniquely human skill. Discerning sincerity, subtlety and emotion are all instinctive human abilities that no machine or artificial intelligence has yet mastered — in spite of the countless over-marketed claims to the contrary.

Technology can and must provide assistance, but at its core, listening is more art than science — more a personal exercise than a computational one.

The countless platforms for listening are useful for gathering together elements of the conversation that are relevant. But once gathered, real understanding only comes from immersion in the content and an in-depth understanding of the context. And real success only comes from a commitment to act on what is learned.

Over the last few years, social media and similar technological changes have made the world more connected, interactive and dynamic. In short, the world is a conversation.

So at its core, the imperative to become better listeners rests on a simple, human truth: We cannot join a conversation without listening to it first.

Are you listening?


The writer is chairman of IndoPacific Edelman.

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