Could there be a more relevant book for our times? While there are plenty of books on persuasion, none tells us how to influence others through the quiet art of understanding. Vengoechea implores us to truly hear other people (maybe for the first time) and is the perfect author of a book on why we should listen like we mean it. Nir Eyal, bestselling author of Hooked and Indistractable

Hear me out. Does this sound like you? You end a team meeting and can’t recall a single thing that was said. You leave a conversation with a friend feeling disconnected and unfulfilled. You think you and your boss are on the same page, only to find out you haven’t been meeting expectations.

Fortunately, listening, like any communication skill, can be improved–and Ximena Vengoechea can show you how. As a user researcher, she has spent the past six years facilitating hundreds of conversations at LinkedIn, Twitter, and Pinterest. It’s her job to uncover the truth behind how people use–and really think about–her company’s products. In Listen Like You Mean It, she reveals the tips and tricks of the trade, including:

How to quickly build rapport with strangers

Which questions help people unlock what they need to say

When it’s time to throw out the script entirely

How to recover from listener’s drain

Drawing from her own research sessions, as well as stories and interviews with marriage counselors, life coaches, filmmakers, podcast hosts, and other real-life listening experts, Vengoechea shows us how to better listen so that we can all feel heard, connected, and understood in a world that keeps turning up the volume.