My "Learning to Listen" journey started where most of my research typically begins. TedTalks have been my favorite part of higher education so far, and Julian Treasure's, "5 Ways to Listen Better"was no exception. He discusses how loud and over stimulating our daily lives are, and how that has caused us as listeners to only retain 25% of the information provided to us. Julian recommends doing selective listening and being able to pinpoint exactly what noise we are hearing and exactly where it's coming from. It never even crossed my mind to be cognizant of the sounds every day life makes. 
The point that struck me the hardest was his thoughts on headphones. He agrees they're such a great tool at blocking out other sounds, so much so that it causes us not to listen to one another. This is beyond true. Headphones have the ability to create a small little corner within a big, bustling world. Julian recommends showing people that you're engaged in what they're saying. Even going as far as summarizing what they said and elaborating on it. This really stayed with me, of course people want to feel attended to. We need to stop just hitting the highlights in our conversations with others.

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