This article starts with a nice anecdote about how you can be hurt by being dismissive about what someone else is saying. It also provides a nice structure, POWER, for organizing consulting meetings. POWER stands for Prepare, Open, Work, End, and Reflect.
Douglas Zahn. How to be more effective in your professional life. Amstat News, September 2009. Available in html format.
You can find an earlier version of this page on my blog.