Works with Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, or your own local model: paste this prompt and your AI will co-facilitate this exercise with you.

Help me prepare and run the exercise below. First ask for my participant count, time, setting, access needs and intended result. Check these against the stated limits. Use the supplied rules and materials. Explain any proposed changes before using them, and label them as adaptations. Do not invent source claims or require personal disclosure. Give me one step at a time when I say start. I manage the people, physical activity and clock; do not claim to observe the room. Ask me what happened before choosing a next step.

Reference revision: 2420a0e1b7bd9f02d8518d04b8b20e03808f88962a5a59a610b7c34c25465ce9

# Designed for Better Listening

Pairs take turns sharing a real work or project dilemma while the listener applies four distinct creative listening lenses: intuition, interpretation, inspiration, and curiosity.

**Time:** 35 minutes. Evidence indicates 30 to 60 minutes based on four listening dimensions; UWT allocates 35 minutes for two complete pair rounds and a brief debrief.
**People:** 4 to 24. Pairs. With an odd count, form one triad (Partners A, B, and C). In the triad, Partner C serves as a designated double listener for both rounds, taking notes and splitting reflection time with the other listener. Before starting, ensure Partner C consents to this dedicated listening role.

## Choose this exercise

**Purpose:** Practice analyzing spoken communication beyond literal words by applying structured interpretive listening prompts.
**Use it when:** Use during project kickoffs, communication training, or interview preparation when team members need to move past surface-level exchanges.
**Skip it when:** Skip during high-conflict disputes or crises that demand direct problem resolution rather than exploratory listening exercises.

## Materials and tools

- One printed Listening Prompt Card per participant (or digital document)
- One pen or pencil per participant
- One countdown timer visible to all

## Before participants arrive

1. Distribute one prompt card and pen to each participant.
2. Arrange seating in pairs facing each other with enough physical space to converse comfortably without shouting.

## Say this to open

Most workplace listening focuses on factual content or immediate problem solving. Today we are practicing four creative listening angles: intuition, interpretation, inspiration, and curiosity. You will work with a partner, share an active challenge, and practice capturing what sits beneath the surface.

## How to run it

### 1. Introduce lenses and assign roles (5 minutes)

Explain the four listening lenses on the prompt card: Intuition (noticing what remains unsaid), Interpretation (translating complex detail into simple core meaning), Inspiration (identifying surprising angles or connections), and Curiosity (asking non-judgmental clarifying questions). Deliver the opening script. Have participants pair up and assign Partner A and Partner B. For an odd count, create one triad. In the triad, designate Partner C as the dedicated double listener who agrees to listen in both rounds without taking a speaking turn. Partners A and B will each take one speaking turn.

### 2. Run round one (10 minutes)

Partner A speaks for 4 minutes about an ongoing work challenge or project opportunity. The listener takes notes silently across the four lenses on the card. In a triad, Partner A speaks while both Partner B and Partner C take notes silently. After 4 minutes, sound a chime. Listeners share reflections for 4 minutes (in a triad, Partner B and Partner C split this time, speaking for 2 minutes each). Partner A spends the final 2 minutes responding and clarifying.

### 3. Run round two (10 minutes)

Reverse roles for the pairs. Partner B speaks for 4 minutes on a real work challenge. Partner A listens silently and records observations under the four lenses. In a triad, Partner B speaks while Partner A and Partner C (the dedicated double listener) listen and take notes. After 4 minutes, sound a chime. The listener shares reflections for 4 minutes (in a triad, Partners A and C split the time, taking 2 minutes each). Partner B closes the round with 2 minutes of response.

### 4. Reflect and debrief (10 minutes)

Bring the full room together. Invite 3 or 4 volunteers to share observations on how listening through these specific lenses changed what they noticed. Keep the focus on the listening technique rather than private details of the stories.


## Debrief questions

- Which of the four lenses felt most natural to track, and which felt most challenging?
- How did listening for what was unsaid change your reaction to the speaker's story?
- What difference did you feel as a speaker when your partner listened without jumping to immediate solutions?

**Finished output:** Each participant completes a personal prompt card containing four-lens observations and receives verbal reflections on an active work topic.

## Remote

Assign pairs to dedicated breakout rooms for 20 minutes to complete both rounds consecutively (10 minutes each way). In a triad, allocate the same total time with both listeners splitting reflection periods. Broadcast timing announcements at the 4-minute, 8-minute, 10-minute, 14-minute, and 18-minute marks. Provide the prompt card in a shared view-only document.

## Hybrid

Pair in-person participants with in-person partners and remote participants with remote partners in breakout rooms. If a hybrid pair is required, ensure both use individual headsets and cameras in separate physical spaces to prevent audio feedback.

## Access and participation choices

- Participants may discuss a minor, low-stakes everyday task instead of a sensitive personal or professional challenge.
- Written notes are personal; participants may choose whether to keep their notes private or share them with their partner.
- Participants who prefer not to speak in the large-group debrief may submit observations via chat or silently review their prompt cards.

## If the session gets stuck

**The listener interrupts the speaker to offer immediate advice or solutions.**

Remind listeners that their task during the speaking time is silent observation across the four lenses, not fixing the problem.

**A speaker runs out of things to say before the 4 minutes elapse.**

Encourage the speaker to sit in comfortable silence; silence often prompts deeper reflection, or the listener can prompt gently: 'Tell me more about what that felt like.'


## Terms used here

- Intuition Lens: Paying attention to emotional tone, hesitations, and unvoiced priorities rather than literal facts.
- Interpretation Lens: Summarizing core meaning without repeating technical jargon or defensive phrasing.
- Inspiration Lens: Noticing unexpected metaphors, analogies, or lateral angles that emerge from the speaker's account.
- Curiosity Lens: Formulating open questions to explore underlying assumptions without offering advice or critique.

## Participant material: Creative Listening Prompt Card

Use this card to guide your listening while your partner speaks:

1. INTUITION (The Unsaid):
- What seems important to the speaker that they haven't explicitly stated?
- What feelings, pressures, or underlying values are evident?

2. INTERPRETATION (The Essence):
- Stripping away jargon and detail, what is the core issue here?
- If you had to summarize this challenge in one plain sentence, what would it be?

3. INSPIRATION (The Unexpected):
- What surprising angle, metaphor, or outside connection comes to mind?
- What unconventional opportunity might exist inside this problem?

4. CURIOSITY (Deeper Inquiry):
- What question opens this up without judging or offering advice?
- What would an earnest outsider want to understand better?

## Sources and adaptation

Observed in Relationship Makers Handbook, pages 138-139, which cites an IDEO New York creative listening podcast produced for the Aspen Ideas Festival.

The source material references an IDEO audio course for the Aspen Ideas Festival structured around four creative listening habits: intuition, interpretation, inspiration, and curiosity, originally formatted for individual listening on iTunes. UWT adapted these four principles into a live pair-coaching protocol with structured turns, concrete time limits, an explicit dedicated listener role for odd-numbered triads, and a printable prompt card.

Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/designed-for-better-listening/