Listening as a Primary Negotiating Skill 27

and only once—don’t cheat! This test works best when a friend
reads the story to you, after which you take the test.

You’re the manager of a shipping department. One morning the

mail brings orders for 25 items. The phone rings and a store
orders 10 more items. The buyer from a department store
phones and says his store is overstocked, so please cancel his
order for 20 items. The boss drops by and says 15 more items
should be shipped to another customer. A salesperson comes
in and orders 20 items.

Without looking back at the story, answer the following question:

What is the name of the shipping manager?
How did you do? If you answered correctly, it’s because you
followed Rule 1 in developing good listening habits: You resisted
distractions. The distractions in this story were all the statistics!
Other listening situations may call for you to look past a speaker’s
bad habits and concentrate on her ideas.
By the way, the correct answer to the test is . . . your name. You
are the shipping manager!

LISTENING RULES
There are no scientifically documented rules for more effective lis-
tening, but if you adopt these commonsense habits, you’ll improve
your listening ability.

Ignore distractions.
Make it personal by asking, ‘‘What’s in it for me?’’
Focus on content, not delivery.
Resist the urge to argue or judge until you’ve heard everything.
Be alert to central themes, not random facts.

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