Listening Skills by Kalai Selvi Arivalagan (ereader for textbooks .TXT) 📕

How to Improve Your Listening Skills

 

 

Listening:  A process of receiving and understanding messages.

Listener: A person who pays attention to someone who talks.

Hearing: The sense which perceives sound.

Empathy: Understanding feelings of other people.

Biases: Partial choices. 

 

What is Listening?

     Listening is a process of receiving and understanding messages.

It helps us observe information and form ideas, opinions, and questions on what we hear.  

Listening skills help us to focus on the knowledge gained from listening.  

There are four stages in the listening process. They are attending, interpreting, responding, and remembering.

 

Listening vs. Hearing

Hearing - A natural, physical process that occurs even while we are sleeping.

Listening - An active physical, mental process that requires skills. 

 

Facts to Remember

 

We listen at 125 to 250 words per minute We thinkat 1000 to 3000 words per minute 75% ofthe time, we are preoccupied or forgetful We remember20% of what we hear Listeningis a top skill for success in most of the businesses.

 

Different Types of Listening Skills

 

Activelistening Appreciativelistening Informativelistening Reflectivelistening 

How to Improve Effective Listening Skills

 

Prepare

Get ready to listen understanding the background of the information. The listener will benefit by reviewing the notes, previewing lessons, and also by knowing the topic.

Building vocabulary helps us to improve our listening, conversation and reading skills.  Good listeners improve their vocabulary by knowing the meaning of unknown words using context clues.  

 

Want  

We can improve our listening skills focusing on the topic discussed and understand its importance.  

Sometimes we are all forced to listen to something that we really don't like. 

For example:  a teacher explaining a difficult concept that is beyond our understanding.  

 

 Judgement  

 We need to learn not to agree with everything heard.  Analyze the information presented by the speaker to make a judgment.  If we allow others to say their ideas also, it will help us to become a better listener. Speech contests, and job interviews are some examples for this.  Judgement  leads to better listening and honest communication.  

 

Biases  

 We need to learn to accept choices/biases to reach an effective decision. We have our likes and dislikes.  For example:  Sharon had bad experience with a girl from a particular region. Next time, if she meets a person from the same region, she would hesitate to support that person. This can happen to anyone of us. So, we must know how to overcome the biased outlook and decide correctly. 

 

Understanding 

 We must never hesitate to talk with others or ask questions to have a better understanding of the topic.  If the details are not known correctly, thought processing will not happen.  Only effective listening could lead to a successful thought processing. 

 

Empathy 

 We need to learn to place ourselves in the position of others to understand their problems.   

Empathy helps us to feel and think similarly with the other person who needs help.

 

Non-verbal Behaviors   

Non-verbal behaviors tell us how a good listener should be.

Maintaining eye contact, showing facial expressions, responding with a few words, and body positions are some non-verbal behaviors

that show you are actively listening to the speaker.   

Non-verbal behaviors also show how attentive you are to the speaker.

 

Negative Mannerisms  

 

Some behaviors show lack of focus and interest in the listener.   

Moving nervously in your seat, tapping a pen or pencil, watching the clock or looking at things around you are some negative mannerisms.  

 

Active Listening

What is active listening

Active listening helps us to have clarity and interact better with other people. It also helps a listener to receive messages, understand them, and provide feedback.  The feedback is based on understanding the messages. Active listeners remember more information than passive listeners.  Active listeners focus on the present moment, interact, and avoid distraction.  

 

Appreciative Listening

 

What is appreciative listening

 

Appreciative listening skills help a listener to accept and appreciate the good work done by others.

 

Informative Listening

 

What is informative listening

 

Informative listening helps a listener understand better what the speaker has shared.

 

Reflective Listening

What is reflective listening 

 

Reflective listening helps a listener to share opinions and views on the information shared by the speaker.

 

Characteristics of an Active Listener

 

Spends moretime in listening Allows others to complete Does not control the conversation Knows choices. Asks open-ended questions Focuses onwhat is being said

 

Active Listening Techniques 

 

Paraphrasing 

 Paraphrasing helps to restate messages with minimum words.  Paraphrasing a conversation or a speech shows if we have understood the message. It helps to focus and understand how the listener has perceived the message conveyed in the conversation or speech.

 

Summarizing

 Summarizing helps to organize important ideas in the conversation or speech. While doing so, we must pay special attention to topics and emotional tones. Summarizing at the beginning helps to remember any earlier conversation for further discussions.  If it is done at the end, it helps to bring together different ideas discussed during a conversation.

Imprint

Publication Date: 01-06-2018

All Rights Reserved

Dedication:
Listen, listen, listen to your heart!