Oscar Trimboli on being better listeners (Part 1)

Changing Academic Life

Oscar Trimboli is an author, host of the Apple award-winning podcast Deep Listening and a sought-after keynote speaker. Along with the Deep Listening Ambassador Community, he is on a quest to create 100 million deep listeners in the workplace. Oscar has experienced first-hand the transformational impact leaders can have when they listen beyond words. He believes that when leadership teams focus their attention and listening, they will build organisations that create powerful legacies for the people they serve – today and more importantly, for future generations. Oscar is a marketing and technology industry veteran working for Microsoft, PeopleSoft, Polycom, and Vodafone. He consults with organisations around the world, including Cisco, Google, SAP, and Siemens in the tech industry.

In Part 1 of this conversation, we discuss his quest to quest to create deep listeners, the costs of not listening, the 125-400-900 rule, how to be listeners rather than just do listening, and how to ask great questions. In Part 2 (coming next) he will unpack his 5 levels of listening with some actionable strategies.

“What you said [was] really useful, but how you were being with us, your curiosity, your pausing, the way you are listening to the room. I learned more from your [listening] example.”

“Great listeners really influence the speaker”

“How can I bring my presence here?”

“It's the consciousness and awareness of you as a listener… in this moment for this situation, for this context to move forward, the outcome we're trying to achieve…”

Overview (times approximate):

03:50 The difference between a mission and a quest and mission to get a 100 million deep listeners

12:57 The cost of not listening

22:35 Speaking about listening and the 125-400-900 rule, the numbers that matter: 125 words/min speaking speed, 400 words/min listening speed, 900 words/min thinking speed

26:38 How to listen to ask great questions that advance the knowledge in the room e.g., at conferences

31:54 End

You can download a full transcript of the conversation here.

Related Links

Oscar Trimboli: oscartrimboli.com

Listening Quiz, and the 90 Day Deep Listening Challenge

Oscar’s books:

Deep Listening: Impact beyond words (2017)

How to listen: Discover the hidden key to better communication (coming out Oct 2022)

Journal paper on speeding up listening:

Murphy et al., Watching a lecture twice at double speed can benefit learning, Appl Cognit Psychol 2022;36:69-82. [short BPS article based on the paper, and the full published paper]

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