Listening is one of the most powerful tools of communication and is a process that is used to receive, convey a meaning, and respond to both verbal and nonverbal messages. It is what we choose to do and it requires more work than speaking. Oftentimes, people simply misunderstand the difference between listening and hearing. Hearing is a passive process that takes in sounds and noises and listening is what you choose to do. This selective process includes 5 phases that can be acquired for us to become effective listeners in the future. The 5 phases are attending, understanding, remembering, critically evaluating (listening), and responding. Once the 5 different areas are understood, we will become aware of what needs to change and how we can change them. This will also allow us to improve our listening skills in the workplace, school, at home, etc. The first phase in the listening process is attending. Attending is willfully striving to perceive selected sounds. The most important factor of attending is preparing to be physically and mentally ready to pay attention. We should focus mainly on attending to the message rather than encountering inner thoughts and feelings. In my day-to-day life, I try to get ready to attend even though it could be difficult at times. For instance, the other day when I was home, I had an argument with my mother and I started back talking her. But I realized that I should look directly at her and situate myself correctly. After she finished speaking, I understood what she had meant and that was when I saw an improvement in myself because it made it look like I was interested in what she was saying. To advance your attending skills, another important factor is making the shift from speaker to listener... ... middle of paper ... ... in.” So, of course I would jump in and interrupt as always or else they would never understand my viewpoint on this. I think I should work on not interrupting and let them finish speaking, and then I should reply with what I’m feeling. To be effective listeners, the listening process should be incorporated into our lives. We should be attentive to what people say, clarify what the speaker is trying to come across, and respond in a way the speaker can understand what we are saying. I think I was aware that I needed some improvement in certain areas of this process but I feel as everything is slowly changing. In the future, I’m going try not to interrupt people, get distracted, tune out, and try to get a bigger picture of what the person is telling me. If good listening habits are applied in our day-to-day life, we can easily communicate with anyone and everyone.
James C. Petersen (2007), author of Why Don’t We Listen Better, offers practical advice on how to communicate effectively and connect with others. In order to help his readers, communicate effectively, Petersen (2007) divides his book into five divisions. Each division builds on the content in the preceding portions. Every segment provides a great amount of information, which will aid people in how they choose to communicate.
Most of us think that we listen well, but we don’t. Not really hearing what others are trying to say can get costly. When people don’t feel heard they tend to get irritated, confused, and pull away from each other. In the book, “Why Don’t We Listen Better?” Petersen describes in detail communication in five sections. Petersen’s communication consists of two people who connect on a gut level through a respectful talking and listening interaction. One person takes the role of the talker and his or her goal is to share his or her thoughts and feelings. The other person takes the role of the listener and clarifies what the talker says in a safe and understanding environment.
The Importance of Listening for Professional and Personal Relationships Listening is essential for communication, yet is a skill in which most are lacking. Though we are listening constantly, knowing what to listen to requires an enormous amount of discipline and practice, which is vital for communicating effectively. Learning to listen will benefit all relationships from professional to personal and not being able to listen effectively can cause these relationships to deteriorate. “Indeed, although aware of the instrumentality of listening, even trained communicators often fail to listen correctly or at opportune times” (Cline, 2013). In order for all of areas of communication in an individual to flourish, listening must be emphasized.
A vital aspect of interpersonal communication is the style in which one listens. While every individual possesses their own preferred method of listening in communication, it can be enlightening to analyze our own strengths and weaknesses so as to maximize effectual communication. Within the confines of four main listening style categories, I have chosen those which best describe my own personal listening style.
Communication in all relationship can be successful when our listener get the message that we want to convey and it is not so much about what we want to say. Listening is a unique process because it involves psychological and voluntary process that goes beyond simply reacting to sounds. It includes understanding, analyzing, evaluating, and responding. As a human, we will use different listening styles, depending on our preferences and purposes. Listening styles refer to the different ways people listen and analyze the content of a conversation. Usually, these styles either have to do with the way listeners choose to receive the message or with how they analyze the message. Listening is very important because we listen in order to establish and communicate power. There are few types of listening that can be used in order to communicate effectively.
first things first” when listening you must not do everything but prioritize the speaker meaning no calling, no texting, etc. when the
The ability to listen is the foundation upon which language, reading and writing are developed. Listening is a very important part of school learning, with an estimated fifty to seventy-five percent of a student's
Many people interact verbally as well as nonverbally. However, two major roles are present when verbally communicating. In order to effectively communicate, one must know how to speak adequately as well as listen efficiently. Listening is the main focus since according to the textbook, the average person spends more time listening than anything else. Listening is described as the “process of selecting, attending to, creating meaning from, remembering, and responding to verbal and nonverbal messages.” Though listening is such an effective part of communicating, it a skill that can greatly be improved in my
There is a big difference between hearing and listening. Hearing is a physical ability that the ears receive feelings and transmit them to the brain while listening is a skill. Listening skills allow one to make sense of what another person is saying. In other words, listening skills let you to understand what someone is "talking about”. It requires concentration so that your brain processes meaning from words and sentences.
Listening is an aspect of communication that vital the building of understanding and of a relationship between individuals. Listening can be an active
Overall, listening is something that is crucial to life and is something that I need to improve on.
Listening is a big part of communicating well with others. Take time to carefully listen to what others are saying, and also take time to observe their nonverbal communications. A good listener does not interrupt the person while their talking. they make eye contact with the person speaking. they provide the speaker with their full attention, avoid unnecessary distractions, and try to understand the other persons point of view by being empathetic.
Let’s explore why listening is so critical. “Adam listened to Eve. In that first spoken word message and all since, no communication occurred until there was a listener. It follows, then, that there has become a much-heightened need to listen. We must understand the fundamental relationship involved, we cannot escape it” (Mills 1). The characteristics of good listening skills can be best understood by using the acronym MASTER. The “m” refers to mental. Mental is the ability to slow down and strategically control our ability to listen. “A” refers to active. Being active utilizes constructive listening responses and constant practice can keep this sharp. The “s” refers to sustaining attention. Experienced concentration is crucial for sustaining attention. “T” refers to target. There are four types of potential listening targets; responsive listening, implicative listening, critical listening and nondirective listening. Responsive listening is the agreement between listener and speaker. Implicative listening involves carefully understanding what is implied by hearing what is said. Critical listening is the process of coming to the point of a subject by clearing away all the non-important information. Nondirective listening is fully hearing the speaker out. The “e” refers to eliminating t...
One of the main aspects in communicating is listening. An effective listener is one who, not only comprehends how the speaker feels but, also understands what they are stating. Building a strong connection between the speaker and the listener is one of the first steps to become a good listener. By building this connection speakers should first be in an environment with open minded listeners, it makes them feel more comfortable to state their opinions, feelings and ideas. Listeners should avoid being judgmental. The individual does not have to agree with the ideas, values or opinions of the speaker; however, to fully understand them, one must put aside their criticism. Speakers will believe that they can trust the listeners with their information when they know that they will not be judged. Miscommunication happens frequently, listene...
Those not thoroughly educated in communication tend to confuse the terms “hearing” and “listening.” Although they appear to mean the same thing, utilize the same body part, and are both required for functional communication, there is a great difference between these two actions. Hearing involves the perception of sound using the ears, while listening is based upon giving attention to the sound being perceived. Additionally, because these concepts are different, there are also several different ways of improving hearing and listening. Thus, there are several differences between these two concepts, and it is important to signify these differences in order to practice effective communication.