Let me go ahead and give you a couple of quick wins when it comes to helping you listen more effectively anytime you're in business. For starters, you're talking to a boss, a customer, a colleague, forget just putting your phone down, forget putting it on silence, turn the phone off Better yet, put it someplace else put it so you can't even see it. Next, if you're like me and you have a smartphone or smartwatch, hit it on the theater mode. So you're not tempted to have even a flash that's very distracting to people. They're talking to you and all of a sudden, your smartwatch lights up and your eyes go down it. Final really, really quick tip here listening to someone over the phone.

Turn away from your screen. If you're like me and most people, you're talking to someone on the phone, you can't resist multitasking, checking out the email checking out Facebook, what's new on Twitter. Don't do it. Your mind can really just focus on one thing at a time. If you want to listen to what that customer colleague boss is saying. Turn your chair, turn your computer off.

Just listen. Try to stare at a blank wall. Better yet even close your eyes if you're not taking notes on a piece of paper, or some other computer screen that has nothing but a blank sheet, quick wins. A lot more to come. Please listen