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User Name: RIYA GAUR

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Book: Business Communication

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Chapter 3 : Listening
 (pp. 50-68)
Listening: Chapter Objectives 
Objectives
① Define and describe types of listening.

② Discuss the different levels of listening.

③ Discuss the barriers to effective listening.

④ How to become effective listeners?

Introduction 

We all want to talk to someone who will give us a patient listening ear. This was beautifully captured by John O'Hara in
the short story “The Man Who Had to Talk to Somebody.” The story revolves around the protagonist, Williams, who
works with O'Hara in an office. Williams occasionally takes O'Hara out for lunch. While he remains silent in the
beginning, he later narrates his tragic life story to O'Hara. Even at subsequent luncheons, Williams continues to talk
about the same things over and over again. “Williams,” says O'Hara, “always had to have somebody to talk to when he
really wanted to talk, and it did not seem to make much difference who it was.” Later, Williams is fired. “I am sure I will
never see him again,” says O'Hara, “but wherever he is, he is probably still taking strangers out to lunch and telling them
just the things he told me.”

The first step to learning any skill is to first identify your current levels. Therefore, you have to first assess your current
listening level.

For this, let us take a walk down memory lane to ascertain your listening prowess. Think of the last meeting you
attended. Now, try to re-create everything that was said during the meeting. Try to be as detailed as possible. Let us call
this note your Listening Recollection. Now compare and contrast the listening recollection with the MOM for that
meeting. Now see

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what percentage of the message you remembered from the meeting. (Of course, do not cheat by sneaking a peek at the
MOM prior to the exercise.)

If you were able to recall more than 80% of the points, congratulations, you are a good listener. If you managed to
remember 50% to 80% of the points communicated during the meeting, you have the potential to become a very good
listener with some minimal interventions. If, however, you were not able to recollect even half of what was said during
the meeting, you have a long way to go before you can call yourself a good listener.

“Listening skills” are called so because listening is indeed a skill. And like every other skill, it has to be/can be honed to
perfection with conscious effort and constant practice. You just have to remember that it takes two people to make a
communication, and simply knowing how to talk well does not make one effective. It is the combination of “talking
well” and “listening well” that truly defines a good communicator.

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Types of Listening 

objective ① Define and describe types of listening.

Listening can primarily be classified as follows:

Discriminative listening
Biased listening
Evaluative listening
Appreciative listening
Sympathetic listening
Empathic listening
Therapeutic listening
Relationship listening
False listening
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Initial listening
Selective listening
Partial listening
Full listening
Deep listening

Discriminative Listening
Discriminative listening is the first and foremost type of listening in which we learn to discern the difference in sounds.
The best illustration of discriminative listening as a phenomenon is the way a child learns to speak. A child constantly
hears his family conversing in a particular language. Since he/she is exposed to these sounds on a regular basis and at an
early age, he/she learns not only to distinguish between words but also to distinguish between the subtle variations
between the phonemes. Therefore, a child feels much comfortable with the language spoken at home.

After you have grown up, even if you learn a language, you will never be able to accurately learn these subtle variations.
Therefore, speaking the other language perfectly becomes very difficult, if not impossible.

You also have to realize that listening goes beyond the auditory cues. You also have to listen for subtle emotional
variation, so that you understand the emotional state of the receiver. Listening also involves a visual component, wherein
looking at the receiver's body language, you can effectively decode the overall message sent by the receiver.

Therefore, discriminative listening is both a function of our hearing abilities and the ability to distinguish between sound
structures.

Biased Listening
Remember Madonna's hit-single Frozen. The wordings of the song were “You only see what your eyes want to see; [you
only hear what your ears want to hear]…you're frozen, when your heart's not open.”

This song basically talks about the phenomenon of biased listening. In biased listening, the receiver holds preconceived
notions, which shape the way the receiver decodes the sender's message. In other words, the receiver makes a foregone
conclusion—based on his/her own biases—of what the sender says. This obviously leads to misunderstanding and
miscommunication between the sender and the receiver.

For instance, if you believe that a colleague at work is out to sabotage you, chances are that you will be biased in your
listening while talking to the colleague, often imagining a slight when none exists.

Evaluative Listening
Evaluative listening is also referred to as critical/judgmental listening. In evaluative listening, we listen to the sender's
message and make judgments on the same. In evaluative listening, we also

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tend to evaluate the message against our own beliefs and values, trying to gauge whether the message is good or bad.

For example, often when our bosses talk to us, we use evaluative listening to determine whether the boss really wishes us
well or is simply trying to be “bossy.”

Another example: We make use of evaluative listening when a salesperson tries to sell us a product. While listening to
the sales pitch, we are actually trying to evaluate the value proposition of both the product and the person (the
salesperson in this case), which will finally determine whether we purchase the product or not. Therefore, in evaluative
listening, we try to judge the pros and cons of a message.

Appreciative Listening
In appreciative listening, the person listens to things that he/she appreciates. For instance, have you ever noticed that the
day you decide you want to lose weight, you tend to pick up more sounds/messages pertaining to the topic of losing
weight? This is a result of appreciative listening.

In other words, we seek out the useful things pertinent to us. Therefore, we like certain speeches and presentations better
than the others depending on what or who we appreciate. This determines the type of music we listen to and our favorite
artists, speakers, presenters, etc.

Sympathetic Listening
As the name suggests, we engage in sympathetic listening when we sincerely care about the other person. For example,
when your close friend discusses his/her work concerns with you, you listen with rapt attention so he/she knows that you

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care about him/her. With the help of sympathetic listening, we show the other person that we care, which makes it an
important constituent in the context of relationship building.

Empathic Listening
Empathic listening entails not only caring for but showing compassion for the other person. When we go beyond
sympathy and “literally” feel what the other person is feeling, we engage in empathetic listening. However, to get the
other person to open up, you must show the person that you share their pain and happiness.

As mentioned earlier in the section “Discriminative Listening,” listening involves paying attention to the visual cues. It is
even more relevant in the case of empathetic listening, in which we look for nonverbal cues to gain a better
understanding of what the other person is feeling. For example, remember the time when your friend lost his/her job to
the recession or another time when your best friend got his/her first big break. Now try to remember how you listened to
them? Did you engage in sympathetic listening or empathetic listening? The way to discern this is fairly simple. Just
answer this question: Did you feel the pain and anguish in the first instance and did you feel the joy radiate through you
in the second instance? If yes, you were listening empathically.

Therapeutic Listening
Therapeutic listening does not mean just listening to the other person to express sympathy or to feel their happiness and
pain. Its purpose is to take remedial actions, which will bring about a desired behavioral change in the other person.

For example, therapeutic listening is what a therapist undertakes when listening to a patient. However, you must
remember that therapeutic listening is not just restricted to the profession and stream of psychiatry.

Therapeutic listening occurs in several scenarios such as when a business coach listens to the needs of his/her training
participants so as to help them develop certain skills, or when a manager tries to motivate his/her underperforming sales
team, or when an HR manager speaks to an erring employee post a disciplinary issue.

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Emphatic Listening as a Life Skill

Emphatic listening is essentially deeply therapeutic and healing. It gives the other person what Covey (1989) calls, the
“psychological air” that is so needed if we are to survive psychologically. As we listen deeply, Covey (1989) further
opines, our “ethos,” “pathos,” and “logos” would carry out the task. “Ethos” has to do with the faith the other person has
in our integrity, competence, and character. “Pathos” refers to the genuine feelings we exhibit. “Logos” is the logic with
which we carry out our presentation. In short, the sequence, ethos, pathos, and logos, i.e., our character, our relationship,
and the logic of our presentation, respectively, would make the person respond positively. While communicating, most
people go straight to the logos. They try to convince the other person of the validity of their logic without having
recourse to either ethos or pathos. Only when our presentation is made with the needed stress on ethos, pathos, and logos,
will it provide the other person with the much-needed feeling of being understood, validated, affirmed, and appreciated.
It is only when we meet the other person's cravings that we are in a position to influence him/her. When the other person
perceives our efforts as being genuine, he/she would respond to us positively.

Source: Joseph, K. S. (2008), Equip Yourself With Life Skills, The Bombay Saint Paul Society.

Relationship Listening
An important function of communication is to build rapport with another person. This is where relationship listening
comes in. In relationship listening, we simply listen to the other person in order to develop, maintain, and nourish a
relationship.

For example, remember the time when you met a good-looking colleague whom you wanted to get acquainted with (so
you could take things to the next level). So, what happened and what did you do? I bet on all my savings that you
listened with rapt attention to every word that came out of their mouth. Of course, if you managed to build a relationship
post that, we can safely say that you have now mastered the art of relationship listening.

On a serious note, relationship listening is not only limited to the use of establishing personal relationships. It finds a
whole lot of application in the area of public relations, networking, and negotiations, where building relationships and
creating rapport is crucial for you to get the job done.

False Listening
This is possibly the easiest to remember and the hardest to overcome among all the listening types. Do you remember
your own listening style when you listened to your boss' tirade on the team's performance or your wife's rants on the
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rising prices or your father's lecture on your grades in school?

False listening occurs when a person is pretending to listen but, in reality, does not hear anything that is being said.
Typically, we are all masters of this art. We practice this art as children, when we would smartly affix our eyes toward the
teacher's face, with our heads tilted to one side, which gave the impression that we were engrossed in the lecture, while
our minds drifted elsewhere. We perfect this art in adulthood, when we go through the motions of meetings looking as if
we are listening with undivided attention, while we engage in other activities.

False listening is often used by the people who want to give a good impression that they are indeed listening but know
completely well that it is not important for them to listen to the other person. However, a word of caution: False listening
is fraught with its own perils and can lead to embarrassments and conflicts, especially if you get caught.

Initial Listening
Initial listening occurs when we listen to the other person in the beginning or when we listen to the opening message but
then stop midway. This happens owing to one primary reason: You are simply listening to find an opening in the
conversation, so that you can interject with your own points.

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For example, in an organization, when a subordinate comes up with a smart point, the boss listens initially but then
jumps into the conversation so that by the time the conversation is over, it seems as if it was the boss' brilliant idea to
start with.

Selective Listening
Selective listening takes place when you listen to only those things that you want to hear or to those that interest you.
However, do not confuse selective listening with biased listening. Selective listening is not a result of our biases; on the
contrary, it stems from our interest/disinterest in a particular topic or even the level of knowledge that we want to gain
from the same.

For example, if you wish to see selective listening in action, pay attention to your listening pattern in the next meeting
that you attend. Chances are you will listen intently at the start of and toward the end of the meeting. This usually
happens because over time you have come to realize that the “meat of most meetings” lie at the beginning and toward the
end. A meeting begins with an agenda, wherein you get information on all the discussion points and it ends with a
summary, wherein you get information on all the decisions points. Hence, you get all the “juice” without having to
“sweat.” Therefore, many smart individuals deliberately and consciously engage in selective listening. Their philosophy
is: “ Do not listen hard; listen smart.”

Partial Listening
Partial listening is a subtype of selective listening in which we make an utmost effort to listen but get distracted midway.
The most common reason for this is the speed at which we process thoughts. We process thoughts at three times the rate
of speech. Therefore, even if we try to listen attentively, our mind tends to wander because of this time differential.

Alternatively, it is also possible that something else catches our attention and we stop listening momentarily or the
speaker said something that triggered some memory from the past, which again caused us to stop listening. Of course, in
all such cases, we may come back to the listening mode after the momentary relapse. However, in most cases, we lose
the thread of the conversation. This can, as in the case of false listening, lead to embarrassment if caught. For example,
even the “ping” of an incoming mail momentarily leads you to stop listening to the other person.

The polite thing and the only thing to do in such case is to honestly own up to your slipup and beg for the speaker's
pardon.

Full Listening
During full listening, we concentrate completely on what is being said. It is also known as active listening, wherein we
try to understand the content wholly and completely. This form of listening is replete with paraphrasing and seeking
clarifications from the speaker, etc. It obviously takes great effort on the part of the listener but is advantageous since the
listener does not miss a point. For example, while discussing an important deal or a merger between two companies, both
parties actively listen to each other so as to ensure that no points are missed during the negotiations.

Deep Listening
Deep listening is the most profound of all listening types. Deep listening occurs when you go beyond what is being said
and try to fathom what is NOT being said. This entails reading between the lines, reading nonverbal cues, understanding
the speaker's personality, etc.

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Deep listening is not an easy art to acquire and requires learning and effort on the part of the listener. However, having
said that, deep listening has a lot of advantages in the workplace, therefore making the effort worthwhile.

For example, during an interview process, a psychological expert engages in deep listening to gauge the candidate's
intent, personality type, beliefs, work ethics, etc.

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Levels of Listening 

objective ② Discuss the different levels of listening.

Now that you know the types of listening, let us take a look at the levels of listening. There are six basic levels in the
listening process:

Hearing
Focusing on the message
Comprehending and interpreting
Analyzing and evaluating
Responding
Remembering

Hearing
In the first stage of the listening process, we hear the sounds that come out of a speaker's mouth. At this stage, it is
simply the sound waves making their way toward us, and all we hear is a string of sounds. It does not make sense to us
just yet. For example, try to remember the time when you were working at your desk and your manager walked by and
started talking. What happened? You heard the sounds and realized that “someone” was saying “something.” Only when
your brain registered that it was your boss and he was talking to you, you moved onto the next stage in the process.

Focusing on the Message

Continuing with the previous example, in this stage, you come to realize that your manager is talking to you. You,
therefore, shift your focus (drowning out the other sounds and distractions) to your manager and pay attention to him/her.
This is when the string of sounds becomes coherent words and a complete message.

Comprehending and Interpreting

In this stage, after you have heard the message, you try to understand the content and the context of the message. This
basically requires that you use your language and communication skills to correctly decipher the message. So, when your
boss says “I want the report pronto,” you know that he is giving you an instruction. Your knowledge and understanding
of the word “pronto” tells you that your boss wants you to make haste. At this stage, all you do is extract the literal
meaning of the message.

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Analyzing and Evaluating

Once you have understood the message, the next step entails analyzing the message. You evaluate the message to
uncover the hidden meanings in addition to its literal rendition. For instance, when your boss tells you that he wants the
report pronto, you first try and figure out which report he is referring to. Moreover, you rake your brain to figure out how
much time you will actually need to finish the report vis-à-vis the time your boss wants the report. Therefore, once you
have interpreted the message, the brain analyzes and evaluates the message and its context.

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Responding
Once you have evaluated the message, you then respond to the message. In terms of the communication process, this
message becomes the feedback. For instance, in the given example, you may respond to your boss with either an
affirmative “Yes Boss” or a negative “It will take some more time” or even an interrogative statement such as “Which
report—the attrition report or the utilization report?”

Remembering
Remembering is the final step in the listening process and entails retaining the communicated message. Remembering,
needless to say, is a vital component in the listening process.

Statistically speaking, an untrained and unfocused listener manages to understand and retain only 25%–50% of the
original message. In fact, according to Adler and Towne (1993), you will remember less than half of a message
immediately after you have heard it. As time goes by, retention decreases further and you can recall only about 35% of
the message 8 hours after hearing it. Since you will forget about two-thirds of what you hear, it is important to make sure
that you retain the most important one-third [of the message]. As a matter of fact, effective listeners let go of a lot of
details to retain the more important content (Cooper et al., 1997). Therefore, to be an effective listener, you have to
judiciously decide which aspects of the message are important and need to be retained. Continuing with the example
given in the section “Responding,” you must remember two things: (a) the report that your boss wants and (b) the fact
that your boss wants the report “pronto.”

The important aspects of listening have been encapsulated beautifully in the hanzi (Chinese character) character for
listening, as illustrated in Figure 3-1.

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F igure 3-1 The Hanzi Character for Listening  

Barriers to Effective Listening 

objective ③ Discuss the barriers to effective listening.

There are namely five types of listening barriers that can inhibit our optimum listening skills. These are as follows:

Physiological barriers
Environmental barriers
Attitudinal barriers
Sociocultural barriers
Semantic barriers

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Physiological Barriers
The first and foremost prerequisite for listening well is the “physical ability to hear.” Therefore, if an individual is hard of
hearing, he/she will have difficulty in listening. This physical barrier can range from mild hearing loss to total hearing
loss, making it difficult for the individual to listen well.

Another physiological barrier occurs because of the speed of thought. Our mind processes at three times the speed of
speech. If we were to put it numerically, our brain can process 500 words per minute, whereas we speak at only 125
words per minute. Therefore, the mind tends to drift away and, consequently, obstructs the listening process. This
difference between the thinking rate and speaking rate is referred to as leftover thinking space. In fact, if you remember
your school days, you and your friends may have been reprimanded by teachers on several occasions for daydreaming in
class. Even if you have not been caught, you know that you have experienced this phenomenon. In fact, ask yourself how
often you have rejoined a conversation with a guilty start to realize that you drifted away and have no idea of what has
been said.

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The Friends Corner: Revelry and Reverie!!!

[Season 3, Episode 7]

[Scene: Central Perk, the whole gang is there, Ross is telling a story about what happened at work…]

Ross: So I told Carl, “Nobody, no matter how famous their parents are, nobody is allowed to climb on the dinosaur.” But
of course this went in the ear and out…

Rachel: (thinking to herself) I love how he cares so much about stuff. If I squint I can pretend he's Alan Alda.

Monica: (thinking to herself) Oh good, another dinosaur story. When are those gonna become extinct?

Chandler: (thinking to himself) If I were a superhero who could fly and be invisible, that would be the best.

Gunther: (thinking to himself) What does Rachel see in this guy? I love Rachel. I wish she was my wife.[Joey is singing
in his head.]

Phoebe: (thinking to herself) Who's singing?

One of the biggest mistakes we tend to make when we listen is to want to “fix it,” whatever it is. We think that we can
either help fix it, or we cannot help at all. This is one of the greatest social mistakes we make every day, and it is the
source of much of our social frustration and impatience. We are more caught up in orchestrating what we consider the
ideal response or a “fix-it” response than we are on actually listening [to what the speaker has to say] (Miller, 2009).

Environmental Barriers
The environment is defined as “whatever is external to and potentially or actually influential on a phenomenon under
investigation” (Hawley, 1968). Therefore, the environment also presents listening barriers, which may impact your
listening prowess. Following are the three major types of environmental barriers:

Physical distractions
Obstructions in the communication channel
Message overload

Physical Distractions

Physical distractions are noise or obstructions present in our physical environment, such as loud music, background
noise, uncomfortable chairs, uncomfortable temperature, hunger, thirst, drowsiness, illnesses, fatigue, muscle cramps,
and distance between the speaker and the listener. They also include visual distractions such as, birds flying through your
window and a beautiful girl walking past your door.

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Even your attitude toward the speaker can form a barrier in the listening process. Therefore, if you are interested in
someone, you tend to pay more attention to what they are saying. That is why we tend to listen to individuals whom we
regard as subject matter experts.

Strong emotions can also inhibit our listening competence. For example, if we are experiencing intense emotions such as
anger, fear, joy, or jealousy, we cannot listen well to the other person.

Obstructions in the Communication Channel

An obstruction in the communication channel can also hinder the listening process. For example, in case of a bad
telephone connection, even the best listeners will find it difficult to listen in to the conversation. Therefore, it becomes
important to select an appropriate channel or medium to set up and create an effective listening environment. Usually, a
face-to-face communication is more effective for the listening process.

Daydreaming: the spontaneous activity—carried out in a stream of thought—of recalling past experiences, imagining
alternative courses that a past experience might have taken, and imagining possible future experiences (Mueller, 1990).
According to Singer (1966), the content of daydreaming included autobiographical memories but was not delimited to
such. It was broadly described as “the ‘pictures in the mind's eye’ the unrolling of sequence of events, memories, or
creatively constructed images of the future events of various degrees of probability of occurrence.” He assumed the brain
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to be continuously active, for which reason the organism was seen to be “constantly confronted with a competing source
of stimulation from within.”

Message Overload

Message overload is another barrier to effective listening. Even the most conscious of listeners may feel overwhelmed
with the sheer volume of the information that comes their way. In such cases, listening becomes a drag and the listener
finds it increasingly difficult to pay attention to what is being said. Apart from message overload, message complexity
also negatively impacts an individual's listening skills.

Attitudinal Barriers
Although definitions of attitudes vary considerably, there is general agreement that a person's attitude toward some
object constitutes a predisposition on his part to respond to the object in a consistently favorable or unfavorable manner
(Allport, 1935). Our attitudes play an important role in the overall communication process and can obstruct our listening
competence.

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A preoccupied mind, for instance, becomes a barrier to listening. When your mind is preoccupied, it is difficult to pay
attention to what someone else is saying. For instance, if you are worried about an imminent layoff, chances are slim that
you will be listening to your spouse's narration of their day, when you get home.

Another barrier comes in the form of egocentrism. Individuals who are egocentric opine that their opinions are more
important than the others. Therefore, they tend to talk more and listen less.

The fear of appearing ignorant is another barrier that we frequently encounter. The listener is afraid of asking questions
lest he/she faces ridicule. So instead, he/she tunes out the speaker. For example, if you are talking to someone who uses a
lot of jargons in his communiqué, chances are you will feign interest for a while but will slowly tune out the speaker.

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Finally, certain assumptions can also create barriers in effective listening. For example, many listeners believe that
effective communication is the sender's responsibility. They, therefore, do not regard listening as their responsibility and
are not good listeners. Listening is also believed to be a passive activity. Therefore, many individuals do not ask
questions or paraphrase. They simply “hear” but do not “listen.” Another assumption that mars listening is the belief that
talking has more advantages than listening. Therefore, people tend to talk more and listen less.

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Sociocultural Barriers
A barrier to listening stems from sociocultural differences between the speaker and the listener. The language, the
dialect, and the accent of the speaker make listening difficult for the listener. Another barrier stems from cultures'
approach to time. Some cultures devote more time to listening as compared to the others.

Gender also determines the way individuals listen to each other. For example, men listen to the content, and women
listen to the context. Listening noises, such as “uh, huh, mmm,” signify agreement for men, whereas they denote
attention for women. Furthermore, it has been noticed that people tend to listen more to men than to women.

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Semantic Barriers
Semantics refers to meaning in language. A word carries different meanings in the language and means different things
to different people. In other words, the same word means different things to different people owing to the difference in
their frame of reference.

For instance, when two different words have the same pronunciation, it too can hamper the listening process. For
example, the words “reed” and “read” have similar pronunciation; therefore, the listener can misunderstand the message.

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Some words can also elicit strong emotional responses from the audience, rendering listening difficult. For example,
suppose you were talking to an African-American and made a racist remark/joke on Negroes; the listener (who is an
African-American) would have stopped paying attention to your message because he/she gets emotionally charged up on
the “negro” joke. Similarly, a foolproof way of disrupting the listening process would be to make a chauvinistic remark
about women while speaking to a woman.

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F igure 3-2 Words are J ust Words  

Becoming Effective Listeners 

objective ④ How to become effective listeners?

In the previous sections, we looked at the advantages of listening and the barriers that may obstruct the listening process.
In this section, we will enumerate the different tools/techniques that can improve your listening skills. You must, namely,
do the following to become effective listeners:

Eliminate distractions
Concentrate
Focus on the speaker
Maintain an open mind
Look for nonverbal cues
Do not react to emotive words
Ask questions
Sit so you can see and hear
Avoid prejudices
Visualize the message
Relate message to personal experience
Listen between the lines
Take notes
Paraphrase
Provide nonverbal feedback

Eliminate Distractions
The first step toward effective listening is to eliminate all possible distractions. For example, if you are sifting through
important papers, you are clearly not in an ideal state to listen. So, to effectively listen to the other person, turn off the

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loud television set, close the door, put your cell phone on the silent mode, etc. In other words, stop whatever it is that you
are doing and prepare yourself to listen.

Concentrate
Success in any endeavor requires single-minded attention to detail and total concentration. Therefore, to become an
effective listener, concentrate on what the speaker says. When you concentrate completely on the message, the
distractions in the environment are reduced, which makes effective listening possible.

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Focus on the Speaker

If you do not focus on the speaker, the listening is only passive. Therefore, for active listening, turn your complete
attention to the speaker. In a speaker-centered listening process, not only will you hear what the speaker says, but you
will also be able to hear what the speaker does not say. Try to visualize a room, with the speaker standing right in the
center and all the spotlights on him/her. Every time you prepare yourself to listen, use this visualization technique to help
you focus better on the speaker.

Maintain an Open Mind

People often make assumptions about what the speaker is about to and wants to say before the speaker has even said it.
In fact, during selection interviews, you will often come across candidates who will not let you finish a question and
spring forward with their answer. The answer is often wrong because the candidate is not answering YOUR question;
they are answering THEIR own. Such assumptions and preconceived notions act like fences, which restrict the listening
process. In fact, as famous American author Robert McCloskey rightly said, “I know that you believe you understand
what you think I said, but I am not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.”

Look for Nonverbal Cues

Listening goes beyond the ears. In fact, as shown in Figure 3-2, listening encompasses the eyes and the heart. Therefore,
whenever you are listening to the speaker, pay attention to all the nonverbal cues, in particular to the kinesics and the
paralanguage. These nonverbal cues will help you pick up the underlying nuances, which will enrich the whole listening
process. Therefore, as stated earlier, do not just listen with your ears; listen with your eyes as well.

Do Not React to Emotive Words

William James, American philosopher and psychologist, had said:

“Emotional occasions, especially violent ones, are extremely potent in precipitating mental
rearrangements. The sudden and explosive ways in which love, jealousy, guilt, fear, remorse, or anger can
seize upon one are known to everybody… And emotions that come in this explosive way seldom leave
things as they found them.”

As is evident, strong emotions hinder the communication process. When we are listening to a speaker, we are not just
listening for the underlying crux of the message; we first and foremost are listening to the words being used to convey
the message. And, a word or phrase in a message can evoke a strong emotional response in us. Such words are known as
trigger words. These trigger words impact our ability to “objectively” listen to the speaker. Hence, in order to be a good
listener, it is important that we do not react to emotive words and maintain objectivity at all times.

Ask Questions
Asking questions is a good way of ensuring and ascertaining if you are listening well to the speaker; for you can only ask
questions if you “have been” listening to the speaker. Therefore, when you ask questions during a conversation, you
disengage from being a passive participant who hears passively to an active participant who listens actively.

Sit so You Can See and Hear

Ever wondered why people sit down when they want to discuss something of importance?

Of course, lying down for a conversation is not possible in the organizational setup. However, even if it was allowed (or
was to become the norm), the lying down position is not very conducive to the listening process as the position is too
comfortable (that is why a full body massage is given with the person lying down and not standing up) and the listener
becomes complacent to the listening process. Many, in fact, will have dozed off before the end of the discussion.

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© Photos.com  

If you have a conversation while standing, you are bound to experience physical discomfort from standing too long,
which will hamper your listening skills. Therefore, sitting down becomes the most optimum posture for listening. That is
why audience members are seated during a conference, meeting, movie, sermon, lecture, etc.

Avoid Prejudices
In the most generic sense, as the preferential self-expression of valuation, prejudice is defined as a person's subjective
preference or preconceived biases for her/his own inclinations or desires. Racial prejudice typically carries with it a tacit
contempt or hatred for others of different races (Mills and Polanowski, 1997). Such prejudices and biases debilitate
effective listening. However, it is important to remember that prejudices may also stem from gender, age, religious
affiliation, sexual orientation, skin color, ethnic background, etc. When we give in to prejudices and biases, we obstruct
our listening ability. For example, research shows that owing to gender biases and prejudices, women in the workplace
are less likely to be listened to than their male counterparts.

You may have similar biases (regarding races and cultures), which may prevent you from listening to the speaker.
Therefore, to become an effective listener, it is imperative to first shun these prejudices and listen objectively to all
speakers, irrespective of their gender, caste and creed.

Visualize the Message

An important technique for active listening is the technique of visualization. When you visualize the content of a
message, it primarily helps you in two ways:

1. It draws your attention towards the message.

2. It helps you assess the whole message, making it easy to identify the missing or misplaced data.

The visualization technique also comes in handy for constructively using the leftover thinking space (i.e., speech-thought
differential) and using the lag time to visualize the message, instead of letting your thoughts run amok.

Relate Message to Personal Experience

British philosopher John Stuart Mill had said, “There are many truths of which the full meaning cannot be realized until
personal experience has brought it home.” In other words, comprehension is better if you have a similar frame of
reference. Therefore, when listening to a message, it

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is important to draw parallels from your own life so you can better understand the message and the speaker's frame of
reference.

Listen between the Lines

Good listeners listen beyond the words in a message. They listen to decipher the speaker's emotions, moods, intentions,
and motives. It requires attention, acuity and an analytical bend of mind to work out “what is not being said.”

Listening pays attention to the “what” of the message, but listening-between-the-lines goes beyond that and answers the
“why” of the message.

The FRIENDS Corner: What's Said - What's Meant!!!

[Season 1, Episode 3]

Phoebe: (Entering) Hi guys!

All: Hey, Pheebs! Hi!

Ross: Hey. Oh, oh, how'd it go?

Phoebe: Um, not so good. He walked me to the subway and said “We should do this again!”

All: Ohh. Ouch.

Rachel: What? He said “we should do it again,” that's good, right?

Monica: Uh, no. Loosely translated “We should do this again” means “You will never see me naked.”

Rachel: Since when?

Joey: Since always. It's like dating language. Y'know, like “It's not you” means “It is you.”

Chandler: Or “You're such a nice guy” means “I'm gonna be dating leather-wearing alcoholics and complaining about
them to you.”

Phoebe: Or, or, y'know, um, “I think we should see other people” means “Ha, ha, I already am.”

Take Notes
Michael Leboeuf, American business author and speaker, says:

“When you write down your ideas you automatically focus your full attention on them. Few if any of us
can write one thought and think another at the same time. Thus a pencil and paper make excellent
concentration tools.”

Therefore, take notes while listening to the speaker as it results in better clarity and greater accuracy of the message.

Paraphrase
Listening does not mean sitting still with your mouth shut. A corpse can do that. Listening is an active process that
requires your participation (McKay, Davis, and Fanning, 2009). One way to participate in a conversation is through
paraphrasing.

Paraphrasing is a technique in which you sum up the speaker's message in your own words. It lets the speaker know
how well you have understood the message and its intent. Thus, paraphrasing becomes an important component for
effective listening. To paraphrase the speaker's message, use phrases such as “In other words…,” “I understand you are
saying that…,” “I gather that…,” “Do you mean…,” “Are you saying…,” or “Let me see if I have got this straight….”

There are several other advantages of paraphrasing:

(a) It prevents miscommunication and improves the clarity of the message.

(b) It ensures the listener's attention to the message.

(c) It helps in the retention of the message.

(d) It pleases the speaker and improves the overall communication.

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Provide Nonverbal Feedback

Just as communication is incomplete without a feedback mechanism, so is the listening process. So, when a speaker is
talking, your nonverbal cues provide him/her feedback on your attentiveness or the lack thereof. Therefore, word
whiskers, facial expressions, and other bodily movements are important indicators of how well you are listening to the
speaker.

For instance, if you wish to indicate that you are listening attentively, you must lean toward the speaker, maintain eye
contact, and make appropriate listening noises.

Listening: Objective Questions 

True/False
1. An overenthusiastic audience (toward the speaker) does not make for good listening.
2. A poor speaker is invariably a poor listener and vice versa.
3. When someone is talking to you, the best way to listen is to close your eyes to block distractions.
4. An auditory person is a better listener than a visual person.
5. A good manager listens only to his superiors and peers.
6. Good listeners are always ready to give their opinion.
7. Male managers are more predisposed than female managers to people-oriented listening style.
8. Tapping fingers on the table while listening denotes excitement.
9. Daydreaming during a meeting can spell trouble for the listener.
10. Individuals who have a time-oriented listening style devote a large amount of time to listening.

Multiple Choice
1. A child learns to speak by discerning subtle differences in sounds. This type of listening is known as

(a) Evaluative listening

(b) Discriminative listening

(c) Initial listening

(d) Deep listening

(e) None of these

2. Which of the following is NOT an ingredient of the hanzi character for listening?

(a) Ears

(b) Eyes

(c) Heart

(d) Mind

(e) Undivided attention

3. Which type of listening style do women commonly tend to exhibit?

(a) People-oriented listening style

(b) Action-oriented listening style

(c) Content-oriented listening style

(d) Time-oriented listening style

(e) All of these

4. The thought-speech differential is also known as

(a) Residual lag time

(b) Lag leftover

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(c) Leftover thinking space

(d) None of these

(e) All of these

5. Which of the following is the most optimum position for listening?

(a) Standing up, facing the speaker

(b) Sitting down, facing the speaker

(c) Lying down on your back

(d) None of these

(e) All of these.

  

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Listening: Review Card 

Learning Objectives

LO1: Define and describe types of listening.

Listening is not the same as hearing. Hearing is a biological process while listening takes effort, and incorporates paying
attention in order to derive meaning and sense from sound.

LO2: Discuss the different levels of listening.

On the basis of listening effectiveness, three levels of listening have been identified: communicators, individuals must
endeavor to reach the most evolved level of listening – i.e. Active Listening.

  

LO3: Discuss the barriers to effective listening.

In order to become effective communicators, it is important to understand the barriers that hamper effective listening.

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LO4: How to become effective listeners?

It is possible for managers to develop effective listening skills using a combination of techniques. Hence, a manager
must (a) eliminate distractions, (b) concentrate, (c) focus on the speaker, (d) look for nonverbal cues, (e) do not react to
emotive words, (f) ask questions, (g) sit so you can see and hear, (h) avoid prejudices, (i) visualize the message, (j) relate
message to personal experience, (k) listen between the lines, (l) take notes, (m) paraphrase, and (n) provide nonverbal
feedback.

Key Terms
Hearing is a physical process and is the ear's ability to perceive auditory vibrations.
Listening is a dynamic process that requires more than a manager's ears, in order to understand and derive
meaning from the sound.
Listening skills like any other ‘skill’ needs to be practiced and can be honed with conscious effort.
Non-listening can be sub-divided into six categories: (1) Pseudo Listening (2) Monopolizing (3) Selective
Listening (4) Defensive Listening (5) Literal Listening, and (6) Ambushing.
Physiological barriers refer to sensory dysfunction, either on part of the sender or the receiver.
Environmental barriers rest outside the individual's own boundary.
Attitudinal barriers refer to a predisposition on the part of an individual to pay or not pay attention to a sender
or a message.
Sociocultural barriers refer to the social and cultural differences between the sender and the receiver.
Semantic barriers refer to ambiguities inherent in language.

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Grammar Quiz
Using semicolons, colons, or commas, correct the following sentences. (Sometimes punctuation needs to be removed to
make the sentence correct.) Write “correct” if you find no errors.

1. Receipts were not included, otherwise, the expenses would have been reimbursed.
2. The following agents received a bonus this month: Barnes, $400, Shelley, $450, and Jackson, $600.
3. The proposal was not considered it arrived two days late.
4. This paint does have some disadvantages for example a lengthy drying time.
5. Soon after the figures are received, they will be processed, but a formal report will not be released until June 1.
6. The program has one shortcoming: flexibility.
7. Our meetings are scheduled for: Monday, Tuesday, and Friday.
8. We are enthusiastic about the plan because: (1) it is least expensive, (2) its legality is unquestioned, and (3) it can
be implemented quickly.

Quiz Solutions

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Listening: Exercises 
1. List, with examples, three major differences between hearing and listening.
2. List five examples of environmental barriers that obstruct listening and state the strategies that can overcome each
of them.
3. List three examples of psychological barriers to listening. What steps can be taken to overcome each of these
barriers
4. Give examples from your personal or professional life when you used (a) casual listening, (b) attentive listening,
and (c) empathic listening.

Listening: Questions 
1. Give examples from your personal or professional life when you used (a) casual listening, (b) attentive listening,
and (c) empathic listening.
2. What are the five things that a manager must do to become physically and psychologically ready to “listen?”
3. When a person is rifling through a stack of papers, what barrier of listening does he/she encounter?
4. What workplace etiquette should be followed to enhance the listening environment at the workplace?
5. What nonverbal cues can be used to fake listening? Alternatively, list the nonverbal cues that can be used to spot
false listening?
6. Compare and contrast the listening styles of men and women. Use literature to substantiate the veracity of your
conclusions.
7. Which of the listening barriers do you frequently encounter in the classroom? What techniques can you employ
to overcome these barriers?
8. While everyone should have good listening skills, list 10 professions whose professionals MUST mandatorily
have good listening skills.
9. Carpeting a room helps in soundproofing the room. Which alternate materials can be incorporated into the room
to enhance its acoustics?
10. “Teens think listening to music helps them concentrate. It does not. It relieves them of the boredom that
concentration on homework induces.” Logically discuss and debate the given assumption.

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© 2007 Cengage Learning Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this work may by reproduced or used in any form
or by any means - graphic, electronic, or mechanical, or in any other manner - without the written permission of
the copyright holder.

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