Page 45 - Nutrition Counseling and Education Skills: A Guide for Professionals

human speech. Most people speak 125 words per minute, while some people can listen up to 600 to 800
words per minute.4 As a result, people have time to be thinking about other things simultaneously. Two days
later, most of us remember only 25% to 50% of what we heard. This is true of both clients and employees.
Thus, while nutrition practitioners are listening to their clients or staff members talk, they have time to be
thinking about other things. Clients, patients, and staff must believe that they are heard and understood and
that the listener is genuinely interested in the message. A person-centered attitude based on empathy,
congruence, and unconditional positive regard is helpful.

Listening is an essential skill.
Source: CDC/Amanda Mills.

Everyone has had the experience of listening to a speaker and letting the mind wander to other topics.
From the speaker’s clothes, shoes, jewelry, diction, and speech patterns, people may tend to fill in details and
develop an elaborate scenario while listening. The process of good listening involves learning to harness your
attention so that you are able to concentrate totally on the speaker’s message, both verbal and nonverbal.
Development of these skills is not difficult, but it does require a conscious effort and perseverance.

Listening ability can be enriched only when the person desires such enrichment and is willing to follow the
training with practice. The following is a list of five of the most common issues and barriers related to poor

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