For many of us, listening is simply something we do on autopilot. We hear just enough of what others say to get our work done, maintain friendships, and be polite with our neighbors. But we miss crucial opportunities to go deeper— to make connections that will endure for the long haul.

In this episode, researcher and author Ximena Vengoechea will share useful tools to self-assess your current listening habits and offer tried-and-true strategies to help you do better. Learn how to make simple adjustments that allow you to listen like you truly mean it, forge true connections that foster genuine relationships, grow your network and make advancements in your career and in life.

Ximena Vengoechea

Ximena Vengoechea is a user researcher, writer, and illustrator. An experienced manager, she previously worked at Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Her book Listen Like You Mean It: Reclaiming the Lost Art of True Connection tackles the timeless challenge of effective listening with veracity and offers practical concepts for work and real-life. The book has been named an Editor’s Choice from Porchlight Books and a Next Big Ideas Club Spring Nominee. Vengoechea is an experienced speaker and professional listener whose message resonates with companies and institutions across all industries. In her book and her lectures, Vengoechea outlines useful tools to help readers and audiences self-assess their current listening habits. 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 teaches audiences how to feel heard, connected, and understood in a world that keeps turning up the volume. Vengoechea has provided expert commentary on listening, workplace communication, and habit formation in publications such as The Washington Post, Good Housekeeping, The Muse, Fast Company, Inc., and Harvard Business Review. She also writes Letters from Ximena, a newsletter on tech, culture, career, and creativity and is known for her project The Life Audit.

Celeste Headlee

Celeste Headlee is a communication and human nature expert, and an award-winning journalist. She is a professional speaker, and also the author of Speaking of Race: Why Everybody Needs to Talk About Racism—and How to Do It, Do Nothing, Heard Mentality, and We Need to Talk. In her twenty-year career in public radio, she has been the executive producer of On Second Thought at Georgia Public Radio, and anchored programs including Tell Me More, Talk of the Nation, All Things Considered, and Weekend Edition. She also served as cohost of the national morning news show The Takeaway from PRI and WNYC, and anchored presidential coverage in 2012 for PBS World Channel. Headlee’s TEDx talk sharing ten ways to have a better conversation has over twenty million total views to date. @CelesteHeadlee

Additional Resources:

* Get free shipping on all our speaker titles — including Listen Like You Mean It: Reclaiming the Lost Art of True Connection by Ximena Vengoechea — when you shop our independent partner bookstore at Bookpeople.

* Learn more about Ximena at