Beheard.ae is relatively new site whereby visitors can fill out online surveys and voice their opinions about a range of current issues. From the global crisis to job security, beheard.ae posts the answers giving insight and providing interesting facts about what the general public are thinking. Is it interesting? Yes, to an extent. Yet, it raises the issue that hearing and listening are not the same. We can be heard but not necessarily listened to. For example, if 90% of the participants in the online surveys say that they are not saving money – who is really listening and who really cares? The whole point of listening is to have solutions and answers to problems and the difficulties we face, otherwise what is the point?

Networkworld.com discuss the difference between listening and hearing by saying that ‘Most of us have been gifted with the ability to hear, but few of us have taken hearing and refined it into the art of listening. Most of the time we’re expecting people to say things that fit into our categories so we’re really not as open to hearing what they’re saying as we could be.”

So, by all means voice your opinion but remember if it is a real concern then nothing beats a cup of coffee shared with a good friend who can really hear, listen and offer advice.

http://www.beheard.ae/en/index.php