Maria Gonzalez Blog
Mindful Leadership

If You Want to Be Heard, Speak with Compassion

Tone plays a huge role in the ability of others to “hear” our message.  When we speak in a harsh or disinterested tone our message is not “heard”.  In fact, under those circumstances, people tend to experience “feel” which means that they start to focus on the chatter in their heads, rather than listening to what is being said.

On the other hand, when we speak with compassion, others are more likely to be drawn into what we are attempting to convey, and our message is more likely to be heard, as it is intended.

When we speak with compassion, the message we are conveying is that “the other person matters”, and that alone, consciously or otherwise, endears us to the other person.  Now, it goes without saying that our compassion needs to be authentic.  Compassion assumes a real interest in the other person.  We care what they think and how they feel.  We are there to be of service with every interaction.  That is implicit in every effective form of communication.

So if you want your message “heard”, make sure you deeply care for the person with whom you are speaking, no matter who they are.