“LISTENING SKILLS”
“Listening is the receiving language through the ears. The purpose of listening is to gain information that becomes the basis for taking a decision
on any topic. A student who attends to his teacher and listens to him attentively learns a lot. He stores this information in his mind and uses it in
the examination.
Listening is not just hearing what the other party in the conversation has to say.
Hearing is natural and reflexive whereas listening is a deliberate effort to comprehend sound that is heard.
Listening is the ability to accurately receive and interpret messages in the communication process.
Listening is the ability to comprehend verbally communicated information and providing appropriate feedback. It can be described also as the
ability to pay attention to sound. Hearing is the effect of vibrations in the eardrums caused by sound waves, but listening goes beyond this
process. If you’re typical, you spend over half your communication time listening.
Listening supports effective relationships within the organization, enhances the organization’s delivery of products, alerts the organization to the
innovations growing from both internal and external forces, and allows the organization to manage the growing diversity both in the workface
and in the customers it serves.
Steps of Listening
:
•Sensing
•Interpreting
•Evaluating
•Remembering
•Responding
The three types of listening
:
•Various situations call for different listening skills.
•The three types of listening differ not only in purpose but also in the amount of feedback or
interaction that occurs.
•The goal of content listening is to understand and retain information imparted by a speaker.
•You may ask questions, but basically information flows form the speaker to you.
•Your job is to identify the key points for the message, so be sure to listen for clues to its structure:
–Previews
–Transitions
–Summaries
–Enumerated points
THE IMPORTANCE OF LISTENING
Listening is the most frequent, perhaps the most important type of on-the-job communication.
Listening on the job is not only frequent, it is very important as well.
Listening can improve work quality & boost productivity. Poor listening leads to innumerable mistakes because of which letters have to
be retyped, meetings rescheduled, shipments rerouted.
All these affects productivity & profits.
Good listening helps employees to update & revise their collection of facts, skills & attitudes.
Good listening also helps them to improve their speaking. Good listening skills are quite rare in the business world today.
BARRIERS TO EFFECTIVE LISTENING
Physiological Barriers
Hearing Impairment
Speaking-Thinking rate
Environment Barriers
Physical Distractions
Message Overload
Attitudinal Barriers
Prejudices
Preoccupation
A casual attitude
Egocentrism
Poor Listening Habits
Faking attention
Listening only for facts
Avoiding difficult & uninteresting materials
Focusing on delivery
Lack of common experiences
APPROCHES TO LISTENING
Discriminative listening
Comprehensive listening
Critical listening
Active listening
How To Be Better Listening
Be motivated to listening
Be prepared to listen
Be objective
Be Alert to all Cues
Make Good use of the Thinking-Speaking time Difference
Use feedback
Practice listening
Use verbal & nonverbal Cues to encourage the speaker
WHAT SPEAKER CAN DO TO ENSURE BETTER LISTENING
Try to empathize
Adjust your delivery
Utilize feedback
Be clear
Be interesting
CONCLUSION
Most people spend at least half their communication time listening. This most used
communication skill is not only crucial in interpersonal communication, it also affects
organizational communication and helps determine success in education and in careers.
Business writer Kevin Murphy says,
“The better you listen, the luckier you will get.”
So take time to listen.”
