Most people simply listen to the words that are being said to them, but words contain only 10% of the message.

The remaining 90% is hidden in emotions, the body language and the tone of voice.

Understanding body language can help you look beyond what people say to what they really mean.

To remember better what's being communicated to you, try to engage all your senses  whilst listening  as human brain stores pictures, feelings, smells and tastes more effectively than words. Understand your preferred mode of thinking, your mental map: whether you are a visual ('see' the world), auditory ('hear' the world), or a kinesthetic ('feel' the world). If you are a visual, when you're listening to someone, first of all make what they're are telling you into a movie.

As brains remember better things that are out of the ordinary, you can try distorting pictures or making them funny.

"To enhance the effect, add sounds, link feelings to your movies, put the taste and smells in. And exaggerate everything."
~ Russel Webster, the author of Super Communication − the NLP Way