How to Listen with Intention

Good listening can be learned, and it matters more than ever. Patrick King argues that the ability to make someone feel heard is one of the quickest routes to trust and closeness, whether you are meeting a stranger or trying to deepen a friendship you already have. The book looks honestly at the ways we fall short: taking more than we give in conversation, steering talk back to ourselves, or slipping into habits that quietly shut others down. Readers are invited to examine their own listening and to build the skills of reflective listening, reading the emotions beneath what someone says, and showing real empathy. Along the way the author draws on research, coaching and everyday experience to show why these habits are hard to change and how to practise them. The aim is to become someone others feel safe confiding in.