As professional creators of experiences, listening skills are integral to understanding people and their motivations, collaborating with others, and producing meaningful outcomes. However, we often undervalue listening skills in favor of more individualistic behavior.

In this interactive workshop we will discuss, learn and play to explore the benefits of being a good listener and develop better listening practices that will make our work more collaborative, impactful and fun.

Key Takeaways:

Discover the impact of listening and how it makes us better co-creators
Learn the types of listening and how to engage in global listening
Play and put your listening skills into action through games
Set a personal goal for a new listening practice based on your experience

About Your Facilitators

Why are you teaching (again) at RAD Summit?

“RAD Summit creates an environment to connect with yourself and the design industry unlike any other conference. It’s summer camp for adults! I’m excited to facilitate ‘Listening for Deeper Meaning’ alongside Larisa, a great friend I met during RAD Summit 2018. Through my career in user experience design, I have learned the value of listening to my own voice and to others. Listening provides a doorway to trust and creates room for insights we’d never fully expect. I’m excited to share and practice this invaluable skill in the Colorado mountains with the RAD Summit 2019 tribe.” - Adrienne

“I had a really wonderful experience attending RAD 2018, where Adrienne and I met and since have become close friends. We often find ourselves nerding out about design and the industry; talking for hours. I have been taking improv comedy classes over the past year and it has been gratifying to apply the learnings from improv to all other aspects of life (as it involves a great deal of listening skills). We both felt we had something to share with the community and wanted to do it in a fun way. RAD Summit was the perfect venue to do that.” - Larisa

What’s your craziest camping or outdoor experience?

“I once spent enough time staring at the stars that I could visibly see the gravitational relationships they shared. I’ll never forget that moment.” - Adrienne

“I grew up in Costa Rica with an outdoorsy family. During that time, there weren’t many established trails to go backpacking, but that wouldn't stop our parents from planning multi-day backpacking trips through some of the thickest jungle in the county, with 8 kids in tow. They would use maps, navigation skills and take turns with the machete to hack a trail for us to follow. We’d pump water from rivers, be drenched in sweat or rain or tears, be covered in everything from mud to ticks to thorns. Our biggest task was to avoid poisonous snakes along the trail. Wild adventures such as these defined me.” - Larisa