Last week, in our on-going COVID-19 related mini-Season here at ‘Learning Is The New Working,’ ‘From What-If To What Now?’ we kicked off a special three-part discussion on the importance of Listening. That was with the fascinating Oscar Trimboli, who’s all about Deep Listening, but this week in the second in our trio of dialogs we go in a new direction: the Listen-Think-Speak approach to communication and collaboration in. That’s with today’s guest, Colorado-based Dana Dupuis, who is about to take you on a journey into deep background into the science of Listening. Dana and colleagues have spent eight years developing a truly cognitive-based listening assessment that’s got real science behind it, and is emerging as statistically reliable. Now, the assessment helps leaders and teams quickly understand and adapt to the listening styles and corresponding behaviors of team members, prospective clients, individual employees and future hires. So, as Dana is very much a Learning Scientist, that’s why we’ve put her here in Season Three, ‘The Learning Scientists,’ where we’re meeting practitioners drawing on science based practices to move the L&D profession forward. Be assured you’re in good hands here, as Dana’s actual day job is about knowing this amazing stuff: as of February this year she’s Executive Director, Research and Development in what her employer has specifically called out to be ‘Listening Science.’ That new employer is none other than virtual communications and leadership experts Mandel, and I don’t need to tell regular listeners that Mandel is a friend of the podcast and the on-going sponsor of these ‘Learning Scientists’ profiles. So, thanks once again to Mandel, and to Dana, who walks us through how important Listening has been to her over her career, which actually started in Sales, before she got to her current position, as well as: why she lives in Carbondale, Colorado and why the people and the mountains make it such a special place for her and her family; what she decided was a consistently poor approach to speaking to customers in Sales told her about the importance of Listening; why she gravitated to Mandel (hint: its emphasis on presentation skills acquisition); our different Listening ‘habits,’ what they are, and why it’s useful to know what the range is; a brief history of 70 years of study of Listening in business; why Microsoft saw a need to move from ‘Pitch’ to ‘Listening’ Perfect (and how spotting your customer’s Listening style connects to more effective selling to them); the connection between Listening and Empathy; how your humble podcast did on her test! and much more.