Listen Like Larry King

I'm Brian Martin, I'm a second grade teacher who find so much joy and fulfillment in what I do. Being in the classroom for almost 20 years, I know all about the time, effort and energy that you are continuously pouring into those you serve. That's why each week, I'm going to bring you an inspiring message to give you a little joy, and help fill your cup back up. Thank you for being here. And welcome to the teaching champions podcast. What's going on everybody, I hope this finds you driving and thriving and doing absolutely amazing. Today, I want to talk about something that is very important, something that we do every day, and something that we might not be as good at, as we think we are. And that's the art of listening. And there's no better person to explore the art of listening than with the broadcasting icon, Larry King. Now Larry King just passing away and made me curious about the man. And so I've dived into articles, podcasts, YouTube videos, just to find out more about him his journey, what made him tick. And then looking all this stuff up. The one thing that he was mentioned over and over again, that made him so successful, is that he was always curious. He said, he was always curious about the other person, what they were thinking, what led them to make certain decisions, why they would do something. And he said, in order to find out those questions, you have to listen, not with your own agenda, not partly listening, or coming up with something in your head before the other person's done. He said, You have to fully listen with an open mind, and open heart and pay attention to what someone else is saying. And it sounds easy. But it's so hard for so many of us. And then one interview that I played, he talks about the power of listening, or I should say, the power of not listening. Now, he was on this book tour, and he's traveling around the country, going to different radio stations, and having these interviews, and he's at one radio station in Dallas, Texas, that he had an interview at the talk show was called Good morning, Dallas, and it was hosted by a man and a woman. And one thing that's important to remember is he interviewed people for a limit. So there's a certain standard that he felt should be maintained by the interviewer. And one thing that he mentioned was that he would never go into an interview with a list of questions. He would have a sheet of paper with bullet points about the person he's going to interview that describe their achievements and background. But he thought it was important to listen, to pay attention to understand where the guest was going with the answers. And he would shape the interview off of that. That being said, he goes into this interview, and the woman host is leading it. And she sits down with Larry and Larry can look across the table and he sees that there's this list of questions that she has. And she asked him the first question. And after she asked it, while he's answering, he sees her looking into the monitor and she's checking out her hair. And then she's looking down at her paper the other questions that she has, and he says he knows she's not paying attention. So she asked him another question and does the same thing. So she asked him a third question. And she goes, tell me Mr. King, what makes a good talk show host and he starts answering the question. But once again, she starts looking away. She looks into the monitor, looks down at her paper, looks around the room. everywhere but it Larry and Larry said he knew she wasn't paying attention. So he says I can't speak For others, but in my case, what helps me a lot is I'm employed by the CIA. Because what the CIA does is they give me clues every night that I send out signals to spies around the world. And they in turn get guests for me." He said, The woman never missed a beat, she moved on to her next question, and said, "What's the effect of being a host on married life?" And he laughed. Now, this story just gives an illustration and how we often don't listen. We may hear what other people are saying. But we don't always listen. How many times is a person speaking to us, and we're having a conversation in our own head, it looks like we're listening, we're nodding our head, we're agreeing with them. But at the same time, we're coming up with a response before the other person is even done speaking. Or how about the times when we're talking to someone, and you can see them peering over your shoulder, looking at something past you, so much, so that you turn around to see what they're looking at? Well, one of my favorites, is when you're talking to someone, and that cell phone comes out, and the person starts flipping through the phone while you're speaking to them. Now, I have to say, I'm guilty is charged on all of these accounts. And I'm trying to make a conscious effort every day to be a better listener. Because when you listen, you strengthen relationships, you make stronger connections with others, you learn and you grow. And the truth is, every single person that we meet every single person that we know, every single person that we have a conversation with, they have something they can teach us. If we only listen. Now think about our classrooms, there are students that will show up in our classrooms, that outside of school, they have no one who will listen to them. So taking those few minutes in class to validate those students to listen to them to connect. How important is that? And how often do we say connection before content? And what's more impactful than listening? Then being curious about our students, and then asking follow up questions to our students. What message do we send our champions, when we do that, we let them know I see you. I hear you. we validate them. And we let them know that the words that they speak matter to us. And I know there's never enough time in the school day, we have so much to cover, there's so much that needs to get done. But taking those extra few minutes, just to have that meaningful conversation can be the most important part of a student's day. And the same can go for our coworkers too. And I'll tell you, nothing means more to me. When on Friday, I'm walking down the hallway and I stopped and I talked with a colleague, and they asked me about my weekend. And I say I have something special planned. And then I see that colleague on Monday, and they make a point to stop and ask me about that event. That makes me feel seen. It makes me feel heard and makes me feel appreciated. And being there for each other, validating each other listening to each other is needed more than ever, and it matters. So, listen with your eyes. Listen with your heart. Listen with your mind. Be curious, ask follow up questions. And like Larry King said, I never learned anything while talking. Thank you so much for your time, guys. I appreciate you. I appreciate you being part of this community. These messages are meant to serve you and hopefully lift you up a little bit. And if you think anyone that you know would benefit from it, please share it. And always remember, whether you're from rural America, to urban America, to Canada, to Bahrain to Spain. We're on that same team. We're all on that same mission. And we're always better together. And my challenge for you this week is to slow it down. Even if it's for just five minutes a day, because we're always running from one thing to another, but use those five minutes to have a real conversation with someone that you care about. invest in them. Be curious with them. Listen to them. Because we need to listen to those we love. Keep being amazing, my friends, and as we go out into this week, may you step into your strength, step into your shine, and let's build these champions up. Have a great week, everybody.