We live in challenging times..
Polarised views. Toxic echo chambers. The degradation of public debate. It begs the question, whatever happened to the art of listening? And yet, as our founder Richard Mullender says, ‘You’ll never persuade anyone by talking at them. You’ll only ever persuade them by listening to them.’
Our focus here at The Listening Institute is to bring the elite level listening skills used by hostage negotiators into the corporate world. Once you know what to listen for in any negotiation, you can truly understand who you’re talking to. And once you genuinely understand them, you can boost your power to influence significantly.
Who are we?
The Listening Institute is a professional body dedicated to promoting listening skills in business.
Find out howWhat’s our remit?
The transfer of hostage negotiation thought leadership into the business arena.
See our keynotesHow did we develop our curriculum?
Richard and Katie developed it, together with our agents worldwide.
Read the story
The case for listening in business
Business is all about building relationships. Sometimes in a very short space of time. Each side needs to come away feeling they’ve done well. Which means the more successful the relationship, the better the deal.
To pitch at an elite level, you first have to listen at an elite level
Listening should come before we make any proposition. Because it’s only when you find out what makes another person tick, that you can pitch a killer argument. An argument that appeals to their agenda, values and beliefs. To discover what’s important to them, let them speak - preferably uninterrupted - while you listen.
Good business demands good listening skills
Having listened - knowing what a particular client, prospect, supplier or colleague feels, and what’s important to them - you can sell them a course of action. Successfully. Because your words will resonate with them.
An unfair advantage?
People ask whether our training gives delegates an unfair advantage. It’s a fair point. The skills we teach do give delegates powerful insights into a person’s values and beliefs. This undoubtedly boosts their power to influence.
Fundamentally we operate on trust. So we ask delegates attending the courses offered on this site to prioritise kindness in applying the skills they learn.
However to prevent misuse, our CSR policy requires us to vet all delegates for Mind Mastery, which is our most advanced course. We never advertise this course. It’s exclusively available on application to delegates who’ve been issued with our Listening Advantage Diploma (formerly Life or Death Listening Diploma).
“Outstanding. Really thought-provoking and motivating. You made us think completely differently. I was left with 160 very happy guests.”More from our clients
Meet Philip Williams
Counter Terrorist Command - London 7/7 suicide attacks onwards
Click below to find out more about Philip and the hostage negotiators who run our white-knuckle live negotiations.
Meet the Institute Cell