Whether you are dealing with clients, co-workers, interviewees for content creation, or simply networking, do you know how to advance the conversation so that you will get the answers you need to be at your best? In this episode of “Can You Hear Me?”, titled “Next Question?”, co-hosts Rob Johnson and Eileen Rochford will discuss how to be an effective listener so that the questions you ask will provide insights and answers that are helpful to you, no matter what the scenario.
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Rob Johnson [00:00:42] Hi everyone and welcome to another episode of Can You Hear Me? I'm Rob Johnson, president of Rob Johnson Communications.
Eileen Rochford [00:00:54] And I'm Eileen Rochford, CEO of the marketing and strategy firm The Harbinger Group. Hello, everybody. So as communicators and marketers, we tend to spend more than a little time trying to make sure that we're asking the right questions so that we can best service our clients. And this manifests itself in tons of ways, right? You can be working on a project with the client and want to make sure you're extracting the most important information from them. You could be creating content for a video, blog, social media. Any number of different types of content. Or you might be trying to best communicate just with your own team or help C-suite executives best communicate their unique points of view.
Rob Johnson [00:01:42] All good points and all relevant to this discussion. So I feel strongly about this, Eileen, because in my old business of broadcast journalism, success depended on asking the right questions in interviews. The better the questions, the more engaged your interviewee is, the more successful the interview will be. First of all, I think we should start with the list of questions versus preparing themes and to have the interview be an authentic conversation. I really feel strongly about this as I sit here and guide many of my clients because it'll be like, Give me a list of questions and I'll say, I don't want you, so I will type them out and give them to them. If it's somebody else doing the interview and I'm doing the producing, but I always tell them it's themes. It's themes to get you going. Because what I don't want to have happen is somebody just sitting there going, question one, question do question three, question four question five. Because when you have a list of prepared questions, you don't listen to the answers because you're thinking about what's the next question I have? And you may miss some great opportunities for discovery with whomever you're interviewing. So, yes, I give people a roadmap, especially my clients, now that I do this consulting gig. But I always tell them it's themes. It's meant to get the conversation going so that you all can have if it's now a host and interviewee or if it's- whoever it is. Because I do a lot of the behind the scenes work for many of my clients. That's what try to do to get them to think about how to go about answering these questions.
Eileen Rochford [00:03:16] That's really good advice. Do you have a story or two that you want to share?
Rob Johnson [00:03:23] I have one story.
Rob Johnson [00:03:31] So I started my career in Louisiana and back then, even now, politics there is so interesting. And so I mean, it's been corrupt in the past. I don't know what's going on now, so I don't want to say, Oh, it's corrupt now, but it's been corrupt in the past. In fact, one of the governors that I used to cover went to federal prison for a while. So, I mean, it's bare knuckle down there. So anyway, a different governor. Not the not the governor I was referring to. I was covering a legislative hearing. I was covering the legislature in Louisiana as a 23 year old, which was such a great opportunity. It was so incredible to be in the midst of all this. I love politics and I'm around all these grizzled veteran reporters from the New Orleans Times-Picayune and some of these bigger TV stations. I was working at the time in Alexandria, Louisiana, or Lafayette. I can't remember. I worked in both of those small markets. And we were covering this hearing. And Governor Buddy Roemer, who was the sitting governor at the time, who is not the man I was talking about earlier, Harvard graduate, smart guy, came out-
Eileen Rochford [00:04:40] Harvard people still go to jail, right? (laughs)
Rob Johnson [00:04:43] They've done a lot. I mean, the people in Illinois are like, yeah, tell me something, tell me something. It's impressive because all of our guys do- Not all of them, a lot of them do. So Governor Romer walks out of the committee hearing and I can't remember what it was. And I had a list of questions. I'm a new reporter. I have a list of questions because I'm like, oh, my gosh, when it comes to me, I better not forget what question I'm going to ask him. And so it's a gaggle of reporters outside the committee room hearing at the state capitol in Baton Rouge, and he starts answering questions. And then all of a sudden, it's my turn to ask a question. And I glance down briefly at my list of questions, and I look up and I asked him the question and the governor said in front of all of the veteran reporters.
Rob Johnson [00:05:28] Rob, do you have a list of questions? And I'm like, yes. And everybody laughed and ha ha. And nobody said it was the wrong thing to do. But I got shamed by the then-governor. And this is a 30 year old story. And that's the reason- he didn't ask that. Well, he did ask the question if I had a good story. That's the answer to the question, why I don't have a list of questions all the time, because I got shamed into doing it as a 23 year old. So I you know, I went cold turkey on that the rest of my career.
Eileen Rochford [00:06:01] That's a great story, that experience probably really put you off guard. And then it was a lot harder for you to think about "what do I want to know" if you know, he kind of like pseudo-called on me so I'm going to blow my chance if I don't come up with something to ask him.
Rob Johnson [00:06:21] Right? I didn't want to be like, "Oh, what was that question? Let me look." And I looked down and that's when I learned it's all going to be in my head. And most importantly, this whole story. I know it's funny and I've told this story for years because I love it so much. The most important thing as it's relevant to this audience is if I, and I said it earlier, if I have a list of questions, if I don't sit there and listen to what you say, Eileen, if I'm interviewing you and you say something interesting to me and I'm looking at you and listening to you and being an active listener, which we're going get into later, I'm likely to hear something you say and that's where the conversation goes. And if it doesn't go there, then I have the next question in my head. But if I look down at my list of questions, you just did something really interesting and I go, "Question three!" then the whole interview loses its momentum, it loses its- I don't want to say it loses its relevance, but I'm saying you're missing an opportunity to have real interpersonal interaction.
Eileen Rochford [00:07:23] Yeah. Can we go back for a second? You made the point earlier that the better the questions, the more engaged your interview is and hence the more successful your interview will be. I'd love to hear your thoughts on how do you get your interviewee engaged? Like what are some of your tricks? Because you've interviewed thousands of people.
Rob Johnson [00:07:51] That's true. I would say I always would go into an interview because because at everybody's core, all of us, we like talking about ourselves. And you know why you'd be interviewing somebody that day? Why are they granting you an interview? What are you going to what questions are important for your viewers or listeners in that case at the time to know? And so I would sit there and try to figure out what question am I going to ask of them about this particular subject that's going to engage them the most. They might start off with them patting themselves on the back. Look how great I am and how good we did this particular thing. But it's also tough questions. It's also, you know, you want to sit there. It's not, you know, gotcha interviews. And nobody's like, oh, it's a gotcha. And I'm like, yes, there are gotcha interviews. There's a few of them. There's also asking tough questions in an interview. And so the good questions, Eileen, or the questions where I say, if you're sitting on your couch at home and you're watching me on TV, what would Eileen want to know? What would Mike, what her husband want to know? They're sitting there, just finished dinner and they're watching TV. I don't know what what is relevant to the audience that's watching it. That's a good question. And more to the point too, never ask a yes or no question. You read the first one there. Yes. Because they could just say yes. Hmm. Moving on. No, don't ask a yes or no question and ask a question so you think you're going to elicit an interesting response. And also think about who's the audience. So for me now, I think about my client and the clients who I do various video projects for. And I think about what's going to help them build their business, what discussion points are going to be interesting to the audience that would be watching?
Eileen Rochford [00:09:50] Okay.
Rob Johnson [00:09:51] So I answered that.
Eileen Rochford [00:09:52] You did. Let's explore one more related aspect here of interviewing. We often are interviewing people to create content, say, for social marketing, digital marketing, etc., which we did show a little earlier in the show. Sometimes these folks, you know, they're not marketers, right? They're just people who are kind of out in the world doing their job that's related to the industry we might be working for. So they're not experienced at talking to or being interviewed, shall we say? Right. And they might be a little nervous. So there's two things I'd love to explore right now. The first is how can you get them to feel comfortable and relax. And the second is how do we get them to open up? And this is related to all of the ways that, you know, interviewing is important to us as communicators. So we can apply this to lots and lots of things. So making people feel comfortable in your conversation so that they open up. What do you think is the key to that?
Rob Johnson [00:11:05] Well, it's easier when you're working with a client because you've obviously done some prep work on the front end. So you have plenty of time to sit there and hear the question as we're going to ask, the themes we're going to go over, you know, this or that. It's also the preamble. If you don't have as much time to do it, it's the preamble before that. So you're talking about an interview with the client where you're there to make them look their best and you want them to loosen up. And so you may be just talking about various things. Anything to get them to loosen up. You don't want them to sit down and you're like, all right, here we go. And you want them to loosen up. Maybe they told a story about their family. Maybe they shared something with you that's maybe not even relevant to the interview. Or maybe it is. Maybe it's something you would think of later and you can bring up. Even if it's not though you want to put them in. So whether it be preparation, whether it be preamble with them to loosen them up, that's how you get them to loosen up. And the thing I tell these folks all the time, who may be more technical in nature and may not be the greatest communicators. I remind them that they are the subject matter expert for this interview, for this interaction that we are having right now. You know more about this subject than anybody else, and that should give you confidence and you should be able to understand that there is no wrong answer, you know, and that's the other thing I tell people, there's not a wrong answer. This isn't a you know, it's working with a client, it's not a gotcha interview. It's me trying to extract the most interesting things from you. But again, Eileen, with this or anything else, that always begins with preparation. Why is that person in that interview today? What are the most important points they have? You know, their central talking point, their supporting points. I don't want them to tell me everything they know about the subject because that's tedious. But let's prioritize our messages and you and then when you when you do that in concert with preparing, then you're going to get good answers out of them and then remind them you're the subject matter expert. You're the expert. You know more than me about this. You know more than just about anybody about this. A lot of times it gives them confidence.
Eileen Rochford [00:13:12] Well, that's fantastic. So to sum up, because I loved your answer, preparation looks like maybe ahead of time letting the folks you're going to be interviewing know more details about what you're gonna talk about, what's the purpose of the interview, what you're trying to get out of it, maybe give them a little tips, like I'll think of some anecdotes or stories that might exemplify X, Y or Z. That's great. So that's awesome advice. And then the confidence building. I love that because that is, you know, that ego stroking, confidence building is always smart, but I think sometimes we forget about that. So thank you for bringing that one up.
Rob Johnson [00:13:51] But what about people that are introverts or people that don't do this naturally? You want to give them every opportunity to feel comfortable, whether that's making them feel comfortable for the interview. And certainly it's always about preparation, the work you do with them prior to going on, you know, doing the interview and just making them understand that, no, you know, more than I do, you know, more than anybody. And that should give you confidence when you're expressing what the important central message is today.
Eileen Rochford [00:14:22] Okay. And using your themes to guide your interviewee
Rob Johnson [00:14:26] Right, not questions, the themes!
Eileen Rochford [00:14:30] Yeah, that's great, though, because I've been in more than one situation myself where it was a high stakes conversation with a very top level executive, two or three of those, and having lost my place and not being able to really put my finger on exactly what was the smart next question, I fell back on themes. So that is excellent advice and I think folks will take that away as a great thing to to do to make how they approach interview for content development, networking, interviewing. I mean that's another thing, you know, you're feeling pretty nervous when you're being interviewed for a job, so you're falling back on your themes is a great little tool.
Rob Johnson [00:15:10] But the more prepared you are, the less nervous you are. That happens to everybody right?
Eileen Rochford [00:15:16] And that's the truth. We've said that so often on the show. I, as you know, 100% believe in that. There's so many great stories of people, they were so well prepared that even having forgotten their notes, getting up in front of, you know, earnings meetings that were very high stakes, could still pull off a fantastic presentation because it was all about the preparation.
Rob Johnson [00:15:37] Right?
Eileen Rochford [00:15:38] All right, then. So we've established that guiding through questions or, you know, prompts is not as hard as we might think and we've given some tools. So the other piece of this, it's the great listening. So great interviews require great listening. And these things work together kind of like the yin and the yang forces. So let's lay out what are equals great listening in detail. I'm just going to give a little overview here of a recent Harvard Business Review article, and it explained the three most important listening components. So the first is cognitive, and in this case, cognitive means paying attention to all the information that you're getting in that interview environment, both explicit and implicit right. So making sure that you're comprehending and then integrating that information, that's cognitive now emotional. That is staying calm and compassionate, despite what they might be saying during your conversation, including so obviously managing any of your emotional reactions like you might feel a little annoyed by what they're responding or not getting to what you want them to say or forward. These things might be kind of flashing through your head, so you might experience that. So next is behavioral. Behavioral is conveying interest in comprehension verbally and non-verbally. And one little thing that was in the article that I think is pretty important. It was a 2015 study, and it showed that 78% of accredited undergraduate business schools list presenting as a learning goal. Only 11% identified listening. Now, that's just sad, don't you think?
Rob Johnson [00:17:28] Well, it's sad, but, you know, it also speaks to where we are right now when we're talking about preparing our clients and everybody is hyper focused on presenting. And yes, there are definitely ways you can be become better as a presenter. But it is sad. And only 11 talked about being a good listener.
Eileen Rochford [00:17:49] Yeah.
Rob Johnson [00:17:49] That is sad, but it really is. I don't want to say it's a lost art, but especially with our phones, especially with all the distractions that we have, it's it is very important to, you know, to keqep those things in mind. You know, and I was going to share this a little bit later, but I'm not sure right now because I was thinking about this being a good, active listener, which we're getting ready to dove in a little bit more. One of the CEOs I worked with in the last couple of years would be somebody on the room, gregarious, you know, Hey, whatever. Just when that person was talking, they owned the room. And when that person wasn't talking in a key meeting, he would be looking at his phone the whole time, not paying attention at all. And everybody's looking at him because they're all there to hopefully make a good impression on him. Because why? He's the boss. Right. And at some point, there was an opportunity to not say, hey, boss, you know, because sometimes people don't respond well to that. But it was I was able to share information about being an active listener, and it was directed exactly to him. And I did it in a way where he didn't feel like it was directed exactly at him. But but you can't sit there, own the room, sit down, and then start going through all your emails. I know all these people, your high level, your important, you're busy, you have 50 things to do. But everybody's in that meeting because they want your input and they want your attention and you can't just sit there and ignore everybody or you lose them. And that particular meeting you did.
Eileen Rochford [00:19:24] Oh, that's sad. It seems like such a basic today, right? More and more people realize how, you know, our technology and our phones is helpful. It's also not helpful.
Rob Johnson [00:19:36] Think about what it does. All that like I just mentioned, all that technology and you're sitting there and you have the ability to just look at your phone in a in a heartbeat. So as it relates to the whole idea of active listening, there was another article that caught my attention. It was from Adam Bryant at the New York Times, and it was based on thousands of interviews he's conducted over the years as a journalist. Two takeaways here. Active listening is an art, and it's vital when you're trying to solicit ideas. In other words, what is your body language convey? I just shared a story with you about body language that was not so collaborative. Whether you're leaning closer or tilting your head up or arching an eyebrow at the right moment, all of these things signal to the person that's presenting that you are listening to them. And here's a question for bosses Why are so few managers good at listening? Oh, maybe they feel like they're supposed to have the answers rather than the questions. You know, you should be able to ask questions. You should be able to probe. And good bosses do that as opposed to I'm going to have all the answers and everybody's going to think I'm a genius. Maybe they feel like they're under tremendous pressure to move quickly. They don't have the time to solicit other opinions when they have a clear plan in mind. It's their plan. This is the way we're going to do it. And let's go without, you know, weighing in on what other people think, maybe they're more interested in managing up than managing down. So in that vein, the art of the article provides some do's and don'ts like respect your workers. Yeah. Okay. Right, that's obvious. Solicit opinions. Ask, what do you think? And don't assume you have all the answers or shut people out from forming a plan. Think about all that discovery that you can elicit by just asking a question. What do you think? What's your opinion? What do you think about that? And all of a sudden people feel empowered. They feel like their opinion matters, and all of a sudden the conversation goes in a totally different direction. Rather than you sitting at a table and telling all your the people that work for you, that here's what we're going to do, go get them. That's not collaborative. You're not getting the best ideas for your company if one person's sharing them and other people's opinions are not valued.
Eileen Rochford [00:21:46] No doubt about that. And even in personal interactions that applies. So asking, you've just met people at holiday parties or you're at a social or business social outing and you're networking with some new folks. And whatever the topic is, that's being discussed. Just bringing someone else into the conversation by asking, What do you think? I mean, we'd be surprised by how much we can all learn from one another. With that simple phrase, it just invites input. Right?
Rob Johnson [00:22:15] Right. And how good does it make you feel when somebody asks, What do you think?
Eileen Rochford [00:22:19] So that's a combination of great question asking, which is an easy question to pull out at any given moment, as well as listening to what they say, you know, their response. If you're actively listening, closely, paying attention and processing what they're telling you without distraction, it can take your conversation in a really interesting new place. I love that.
Rob Johnson [00:22:47] First of all, it's a really important question. And second of all, think about the people that may be in your room. They may not be living in the same communities with the same backgrounds and everything else. They're going to have diversity in thought and maybe actual diversity, hopefully. And just think about, you know, think whether you're a junior person in that meeting or whether you're the boss. Think about how important it is to have other opinions, other points of view other than your own that you can lean in on. And you're like, People feel that way. And it's like, Yeah. Not everybody sees things the way you do, boss.
Eileen Rochford [00:23:20] Yeah. So true.
Rob Johnson [00:23:22] And that's a key component.
Eileen Rochford [00:23:26] Can we go back to something you said a little earlier? It was about, you know, pertaining to active listening, which is essential. There's so much to learn about that, though. It was body language that you were talking about how being conscious of your body language while you're listening, it sends signals that you're listening. I think you said things like lean in to demonstrate that you're listening. Right, or to tilt your head. That's an obvious. But I do that all the time.
Rob Johnson [00:23:59] Eye contact.
Eileen Rochford [00:24:00] Yeah, but not everyone can do eye contact.
Rob Johnson [00:24:03] If it's your thing, then do it. Yeah.
Eileen Rochford [00:24:05] Yeah, totally. If it's within your comfort zone. But the body language thing intrigues me because I've had situations where people being interviewed either I was the interviewee, sorry, no interviewer or somebody else was. And I happened to be in the room and the person being interviewed was almost put off by the body language of the interviewer. Perhaps they were leaning in like too aggressively or like really squinting their eyes really tightly, which may be their way. Like their body may react that way when they're listening closely, but it kind of put the interviewee on edge, which is fascinating. So I only mention it because it was a very memorable moment for me. And ever since then, when I'm the interviewer, I've tried to be conscious of almost like it's almost like neutral body language, you know, you can lean in to demonstrate you're listening.
Rob Johnson [00:25:06] But don't go into their personal space.
Eileen Rochford [00:25:09] Yeah. I mean, not all up in your face, like you're really, really trying to show. "I'm listening to you!" Right? Because it can put them off. And again, this conversation is about how to very successfully guide a conversation, whether it's an interview or otherwise, to get the outcome or content that you need. So that's just a tip. Like be conscious of you yourself as the person asking the question might impact how your conversation partner or interviewee responds because of what your body language is saying to them. So just try and keep it like lighter and maybe a little neutral, but certainly be neutral.
Rob Johnson [00:25:59] I just said it a second ago in reference to what you brought up, Eileen, which is, you know, leaning in means I'm engaged and I'm, you know, listening to what you're saying, encroaching on their personal space is just weird. So I want you to lean in, but I don't want you to lean too far. And conversely, as an active listener, if you lean back, whether you're in a meeting, whether you're doing an interview, whatever the case may be, and your arms are crossed and you're sitting back in your chair and you're listening and you may be listening intently. That's bad body language. So there's one perfect example right there. You may be comfortable. You've been sitting in this meeting for a while. You're leaning back, your arms are crossed. But you know what? It tells the rest of the room? I'd rather not be here. That's what it does. Whether it's true or not, that's what it does. So, so, so sitting up in your chair, not encroaching in somebody's personal space, but being an active listener and being engaged and not having some, you know, constipated look on your face like, you know, are you all squinted up or whatever, you know, like I'm trying to I'm really listening so hard. I'm just. I can't even.
Eileen Rochford [00:27:03] Arent you impressed by how hard I'm listening??
Rob Johnson [00:27:05] Right? So don't do anything like that that's off putting. And, but, but at the same time, the body language of sort of leaning in, of sort of opening yourself up, your arms aren't crossed, you're you're engaged, you're enthusiastic, and you're and you're in the moment. You're in the moment.
Eileen Rochford [00:27:21] Yeah. And let's not forget that the kind of calming, encouraging power of the smile and the head nod. Right. Those are great things that you can do again, whether you're in a conversation, just a small group in a in a social or business networking environment, head nodding, smiling. I mean, on more than one occasion, I've had people I was interviewing who were pretty nervous, say afterwards. I just felt so much better once we started, because you just kept smiling at everything I said. And that's that's an indication that it helps.
Rob Johnson [00:27:57] Because they're looking for the body language. You're scanning the room, let's say you're in a meeting. Let's say you're presenting whatever the case is and you're looking for. The great thing about in person over virtual is you can read body language. So I see somebody smiling. I see somebody is nodding. I'm not locking in on them, but I'm going to make a pass- I mean not make a pass out of it, but like have my eyes go toward them a fair amount because they're reinforcing what I'm trying to convey. You see what I'm saying? So. So that smile, that nod, whatever, I'm like, Oh, they're paying attention. They're not nodding off. They're there. They're engaged. And this is going well. So, again, I'm not locking in on them. I'm going to I'm going to go, you know, scan the room. But I know that when I go back to that person, they're going to help me reinforce what I'm trying to do that day in a positive way.
Eileen Rochford [00:28:52] Nice. Okay, that was good. We're going to remember: smile, head nod. Lean in a little bit, tilt your head, indicate your liking what they're saying. Those are good things. Okay? Because if you keep them feeling good and comfortable, then they're going to keep telling you more and more and more. Right.
Rob Johnson [00:29:12] You may learn something you didn't think you were going to learn. And that's always the secret sauce. And nobody can ever anticipate it. But the odds of you going somewhere in an interview, getting an answer to a question that you weren't counting on is more likely if you're doing all those things.
Eileen Rochford [00:29:29] For sure. Asking the good questions has taken us all in wonderful directions in our lives. So in the spirit of providing solutions, which is certainly what we try to do here on Can You Hear Me? Let's go back to that Harvard Business Review article real quick, because it had an awesome cheat sheet of Nine Tips to Be a Better Listener. Okay, so here we go.This is a good wrap up for the show I think. Number one, repeat people's last few words back to them. They followed by number two, which is really important because it's linked to number one. Do not put it into your own words unless you need to. Paraphrasing actually can have a negative cognitive effect. Don't do that. So just repeat the last few words back to them. Don't paraphrase it. Number three, and we've talked about this offer nonverbal cues to show that you're listening, but only if it comes naturally to you. So that whole, like, eye contact thing, that's why I mention that that might not be your thing, but find something that is your thing so that you can use that as your way to show. To show. Yeah. I'm with you right here for. Pay attention to nonverbal cues. And I think we really went over that. Well, there is good nonverbal and there's nonverbal. Right.
Eileen Rochford [00:30:50] So five, ask more questions than you think you need to. And this I love because I find that people are very reluctant to do so. But definitely force yourself to ask one or two more than you think you want to or feel comfortable doing so, ask an extra question. Number six is minimize the distractions as much as possible. That was your point about the stupid phone. It's crazy.
Rob Johnson [00:31:14] Right?
Eileen Rochford [00:31:15] Turn it off. Turn off all your alerts. Really? You know, you've said don't lock in. And that means like, you know, keep your eyes on them at all moments, but lock in on the conversation. Meaning focus. Number seven is acknowledge shortcomings, whatever that may mean.
Rob Johnson [00:31:34] That means let's say you're you're distracted and you're not being the best active listener. And if somebody if you're having a if you're having some difficulty engaging and it's on you, it might be okay to say, listen, there's a lot that's been going on today and I've been a little bit distracted, but I've heard what you've said and, you know, so that's really what the acknowledge shortcomings means. It means if you are not the best active listener, if you're not the best participant that day and you know, you don't have to be the boss, but probably you are, it's okay to say there are a couple of things going on and I apologize. I thought your presentation was excellent and it was on me and I heard what you said and we will follow up. That's really what that is.
Eileen Rochford [00:32:13] That's good. That's great. I like that. And that's nice. I mean, that makes you feel good that you don't always have to be totally on. Okay, so number eight, don't rehearse your response while the person is talking. Oh, my God. Yeah.
Rob Johnson [00:32:27] Please.
Eileen Rochford [00:32:28] Number nine is monitor your emotions. Now I'll just say that list of nine. Number eight is one that I was I couldn't even remember why I was exposed to this. But I was pretty young. I was pretty young. I was young in my career and I believe I was working at Golan at the time. This piece of advice was, you know, kind of imparted to me. And I have to tell you that 30 years later, I am still working on this one because it is so hard to resist the urge to think through. Where's your jumping in point? Where's the point? I'm just going to insert what I want to say here. Right. And it's the worst possible thing you can do. And I'm still working on it to this day.
Rob Johnson [00:33:15] It's hard, but it's terrific advice because, I mean, we all have things that we need to really concentrate on. And we could even go back to my story about the governor, which was I had already rehearsed my response while that person was still talking because I was going to my list of questions. And if I had been an active listener, had I been really paying attention, I might have asked a better question that wasn't on the list.
Eileen Rochford [00:33:38] Yeah, excellent point Rob.
Rob Johnson [00:33:40] So as it relates to monitoring your emotions, you want to come across and, you know, in a authentic way with everybody and you may hear something that may not be good news, but you have to be able to monitor that and not respond to it and not be emotional about it. So I think those last two are very important as we talk about some of these things, as we close out this episode and give you some food for thought.
Eileen Rochford [00:34:06] And I'll recap those in our show notes. So that is a nice little handy list to refer to. If they're interested in growing in this area.
Rob Johnson [00:34:16] That's a great idea.
Eileen Rochford [00:34:17] As most of us, certainly as marketers and communicators, can benefit from working hard and asking your questions and listening.
Rob Johnson [00:34:26] And the work never ends, does it, Eileen?
Eileen Rochford [00:34:29] Never.
Rob Johnson [00:34:29] It never ends, no matter how good you think you are, never ends. Well, that's going to do it for another edition of Can You Hear Me? We thank you so much for listening. I'm Rob Johnson.
Eileen Rochford [00:34:38] And I'm Eileen Rochford. Thanks to everybody. And remember, you can find us wherever you get your podcasts, Apple, Spotify, Google Podcasts and more. And don't forget to subscribe to Can you hear me?