View video – Damian Padron: Examples of Attention Getters [2:36 min.] This Public Speaking Group Project video shows examples of four leaders in different fields opening their speeches with humour, story, quotation, rhetorical question, or striking statement methods to engage audiences.

View video – Keele University: KeeleStudentLearning: How to Listen to Others Effectively [6:25 min.] This video points out that listening with undivided attention communicates respect for the speaker. Paying attention to the speaker’s nonverbal communication will help you understand more of their message. Using minimal encouragers, open body language, and asking questions are good ways to show you are paying attention, understand the message, and are willing to keep the conversation going. This video also describes six question types you can use for different conversational goals. What are some ways you could improve your listening skills based on the suggestions in this video?

View video – Julian Treasure: 5 ways to listen better. [7:50 min.] Treasure observes that we are losing our listening skills in a noisy, technologized world. In his view, listening consciously is necessary to understand and connect with others. He suggests five simple exercises to build your active listening skills.

View video – BananaMana TV: Andrew Bryant of Self-Leadership International – Ep 10. How to Answer Questions on Your Presentation. [3:55 min.] Bryant encourages you to welcome questions because they show you have engaged your audience. He offers tips on how to anticipate challenging questions, suggest questions to stimulate discussion, and paraphrase audience questions to demonstrate respectful listening. Bryant suggests specific strategies to address likely audience concerns and questions to which you don’t know the answer, or that indicate a conflicting agenda, illustrated with practical business examples.

View video – Stanford Graduate School of Business: Answering Tough Questions. [11:01 min.]
This video provides effective, respectful response strategies for questions to which you don’t know the answer, cannot give the answer, or when you are ‘guilty as charged.’ The speakers provide practical business examples of these questions and demonstrate how to address them through an entertaining ‘do’s and don’ts’ role-play approach.