Julian Treasure has given five TED talks on listening with a combined 170 million views, and every one of them comes back to the same uncomfortable point: most of us think we're good listeners, and most of us aren't. Julian makes the case that not listening has a real, measurable cost: an estimated $1.2 trillion a year in the U.S. alone, and something harder to put a number on, a world where disagreement stops reading as a difference of opinion and starts reading as a threat. Every classroom teaches you to read and write. Julian can't name a single country that also teaches you to listen, and it shows: only 1 in 12 employees rate their leader as a genuinely good listener. Julian's answer is his RASA method (receive, appreciate, summarize, ask), and if that feels like a lot to hold onto, there's an even simpler place to start: two words, tell me more. It does more to make someone feel heard than almost anything else you could say in an ordinary conversation. When we actually listen to each other, disagreement stops feeling like a threat and starts feeling like an opening. Coach Academy trains coaches to build exactly that kind of listening, the kind that turns disagreement into real connection. FAQ What is the difference between hearing and listening? Hearing is passive, sound simply reaching your ears. Listening is active, and it's a skill most people were never actually taught. Julian Treasure's RASA method (receive, appreciate, summarize, ask) breaks that active skill into four concrete steps, and it's one of the clearest tools for turning ordinary hearing into real listening in an actual conversation. How much does poor communication actually cost businesses? Roughly $1.2 trillion a year in the United States alone, according to Grammarly and Harris Poll research. That figure comes from time lost to repeating instructions, correcting misunderstandings, and redoing work caused by unclear communication. Only 1 in 12 employees rate their leader as a very good listener, which is a direct driver of that cost. Why don't more leaders listen well? Julian Treasure's take: most people already believe they're good listeners, which keeps the problem hidden. He believes listening is a skill built through deliberate practice, something almost no one is ever taught directly. Research from Professor Jim Macnamara backs this up, finding that most organizations listen poorly internally, to their own staff, not only externally, to customers. How do you stop interrupting people in conversation? It almost always comes down to discomfort with silence, according to Julian Treasure. If you can't tolerate a pause, you end up filling it, which means jumping in before someone's actually finished. His fix isn't a script or a trick, it's building a better relationship with silence itself, comfortable enough to let a pause sit for a few seconds without rushing in. What's the simplest way to make someone feel heard? Julian Treasure's suggestion: say "tell me more." He calls it one of the most powerful phrases available in conversation, because it draws someone out instead of redirecting attention back to you. It signals genuine interest without adding an opinion. CONNECT Julian Treasure: linkedin.com/in/juliantreasure Nathalie Blais: linkedin.com/in/nathalieblais Learn more about Coach Academy's ICF-accredited programs at coachacademy.com. #activelistening #communicationskills #executivecoaching #coachacademy
