Do you listen? Do you really listen? Is there more to listening than just hearing?

Listening is, by far, one of the most important aspects of communication. So often, you pay attention to your way of speaking, your _________ , your dialect, but neglect your ability to listen.

It is my _________ that people usually change the intended purposes of much of what they hear by refusing to listen carefully. Too often, we consider listening the _________ part of conversation, although it requires us to actively focus and take part.

Listening means giving ear, paying attention, obeying, witnessing, hearing with thoughtful attention, or understanding. The most basic of all human _________ is to understand and to be understood. The only way to understand is to _________ .

Learn to be an active listener. Give off positive body language._________ a willingness to listen and socialize. Ask the right questions. Increase your _________ so that you can understand more and achieve _________ listening.

Listening means we should respond, that we should be touched, and that what we hear has a(n)_________ on us. I believe that history __________ itself only because no one is willing to listen for the first time. You were given two ears, but only one mouth, which probably means that we should listen more and that listening is twice as important as talking. Listening plays a key role in everyday __________. Good listening skills are of great importance, as listening is the fundamental __________ of all information.

Isn’t now the time to listen to those around you? Given them your entire__________. Use your born __________ to become a better listener. For me, I’m going to put into __________ what I believe in my heart and become a better listener.

A 9-year-old boy was having a bad day, and an even worse birthday, until a police officer came to the rescue.

“I was ________,” said officer Austin Lynema, “and saw Thomas running down the sidewalk trying to catch up to his ________, crying. When I stopped my car and asked him if he had any ________, he just shook his head.”

He was nervous when Lynema first ________ him. In a child’s whisper, Thomas said “I am ________ because I don’t catch the school bus and I really want to attend ________ on time as usual.” Thomas was a straight-A student and had never ________ a day of school.

On that late February day, Lynema ________ that Thomas was worried for another ________: It was his birthday. “Thomas told me that he didn’t think anybody else would ________ to his birthday party” said Lynema, “because his family had just ________ to the US from Tanzania”.

Lynema decided to ________ Thomas by attending his party. “I knock at the ________ and he comes out and sees me.” said Lynema. “He’s ________ up and down, smiling and he can’t believe that I ________ was able to show up.” But no one else did.

The story ________ the local news and has had ________ results. Lynema has now received cards and ________ for Thomas birthday from as far away as California.

“As a(n) ________, you will see thousands of people and most of the time you don’t ever ________ these people again,” Lynema said. “But I’m glad that I get to see Thomas again and again.”

All of us have co-workers who have trouble being kind. They can be _________ to deal with and can make work a nightmare. But do we know why they are like this? Do we know the _________ behind their actions?

I have a co-worker who has done all she can to make it hard for those _________ around her. We had a particularly hard week and there was a sales _________ of our products because we were in the low season. What’s worse, our sale promotion plan was _________. So she was taking it out on the rest of us. At the _________, I was mad and hurt and was letting her bring me down. Then I stopped and _________ myself. Do I know why she is _________ this way? Do I know what goes on behind closed doors or why she does the things she does?

I _________ my mother once told me that the best way to feel better when you were treated badly is to be kind towards others — especially the one who ____________ you. When she went on a lunch break, I went to the shops and ____________ her a box of chocolates and put an anonymous note with some ____________ words on top along with a smile card.

After she came back from lunch, she opened her ____________ and read the card. She looked around and re-read it again. She then ____________ placed it in her drawer. What made me more ____________ is that she was very calm for the rest of the day and that I often saw her look into her drawer as if to fed ____________ that someone cares.

At the end of the day, I went and said ____________ to her and noticed that the smile card had been ____________ on her noticeboard. She suddenly stood up and ____________ for what she had done. But I just smiled, wished her a ____________ night, and walked away.