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The importance of effective listening
Importance of effective listening
How active listening contributes towards effective communication
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Active listening is a communication technique that is used in counseling, training, conflict resolution and personal life (Boundless). It requires that the listener fully concentrate, understand, respond and then remember what is being said. Listening is divided into a five stage skills or concepts. A listener must meet all five stages to be seen as an active, good listen. Listening skills involve receiving, understanding, remembering, evaluation, and responding. When good listening is achieved all five stages will overlap and repeat in a conversation. The first stage of the listening process is the receiving stage, which involves hearing and attending (Doyle). The messages the speaker are sending must be heard and able to be understood by listener. The listener must …show more content…
This time I sat Justin down with a pen and paper, I also had my laptop out so I could easily identify the five steps of listening. First I started with turning off Monday night football to eliminate any distractions. I continued with our normal meals, instructing him to write down the days and meals on a piece of paper to display on the fridge. While he was writing I added Zues’s vet appointment in his cell phone, so he could be reminded to get off work in time to take him. Then together we discussed our work schedules, and noted we would both be home late Tuesday. Everything went well, our conversation took less than 10 minutes to complete. I wasn’t expecting much change as I know how hard headed Justin can be, but I doubted him wrongfully! Wednesday I woke up and headed out door as I grabbed my breakfast I noticed the chicken was already taken out to defrost for dinner. He remembered what we were having for dinner and planed ahead. I also didn’t get any calls at work asking when I would be home. Even though it was only two things, these actions are proof that good listening improved our weekly
Active listening is a technique dealing with communication that that can be used in counseling and conflict resolution. It is requires so that the listener can be fully focused. Active listening is opposed to reflective listening where the listener repeats back to the person who is speaking to confirm information and understanding from both parties. One of the challenges of active listening comprehends what is being said in a conversation from both parties.” Although active listening is frequently identified as a valued skill, at present we have only a limited understanding of how it might be effectively and efficiently taught to individuals in the helping professions”(Thistle, McNaughton,2015). Listening adds action to a normal process that
“Hearing is the sensory ability to receive sound” (Walker, R., 2015) and requires no effort while listening is a complex cognitive, affective, and behavioral process (Edwards, R., 2011). Thompson, Leintz, Nevers, and Witkowski define effective listening as the “dynamic, interactive process of integrating appropriate listening attitudes, knowledge, and behaviours to achieve the selected goals of a listening event” (Thompson, K., Leintz, P., Nevers, B. &Witkowski, S., 2004). Effective listening is more than just a cognitive practice, to be an effective listener one must “hear” what the listener is saying but also comprehend the message being conveyed. This can be achieved by practicing three frames of listening. Cognitive listening centers on how words and phrases are “comprehended, understood, interpreted, evaluated, remembered, and recalled” (Burleson, B.R., 2011). Affective listening is the focus of attention, and displays of acceptance and empathy toward the speaker. Behavioral listening characteristics show engagement through non-verbal cues like eye contact and nodding, along with verbal cues like inquiries or advice. Effective listening should not be taken for granted; there are several advantages to understanding and practicing effective listening. When you become a better listener you build stronger interpersonal relationships, you are perceived as having greater intelligence, and improved listening skill establish stronger overall communication skills. These are valuable benefits for me both personally and
The purpose of this self-assessment is designed to help me establish my strengths and weaknesses on various dimensions of active listening (McShane & Von Glinow, 2016, p. 250)
The physical assessment is the first step of the nursing process. This is a detailed examination of the body from head to toe which involves observation/inspection, palpation, percussion, and auscultation. It is important to perform a series of tests and evaluations in order to create an accurate and effective plan of care for patients. Assessing a client from a holistic point of view is important. This is a patient-centered approach, and it shows the client the care they are receiving is as an individual.
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.
The main purpose of active listening is to let others know that you care and that what they say is important to you. Treat them not like they’re part of a hierarchy and they are the bottom of the list. Never act as if one person’s opinion is more important than another’s.
The Egan model consists of three stages and its’ objective is to help the client achieve lasting change and empower them to manage their own problems more efficiently, while also developing unused opportunities (Egan, 2014).
Active listening is described as interpreting both the content and the feeling in which the patient is expressing without bias or judgement;
According to (Talking therapy 2014) active listening means using a set of skills that encourage the person you are listening to talk, to help them feel heard and understood. It is called ‘active’ because you intentionally do things to help them feel able to talk, and because you engage with all your attention on what the speaker is saying, how they are acting, and how they are feeling.
Listening is an aspect of communication that vital the building of understanding and of a relationship between individuals. Listening can be an active
Last, I am determined to become a more patient listener in all areas of my life. A lot of times I fall victim to not letting people who are close to me fully state their opinions without me cutting them off and putting in my two-sense. I need to allow the speaker to finish their thought and process everything that is said and then politely respond to them. It is definitely easy to interrupt and state my case, but I am focused on training myself to concentrate and be respectful and listen. Whether this is geared towards something I am passionate about at my company or a story my mother is telling, I need to put myself in the speaker’s shoes.
There are five concepts of listening that play an important role in the communication process. Sharpening our listening skills can benefit our professional lives and our customer service skills. Various techniques can help us improve our listening skills. Active listening involves sitting forward, making eye contact, nodding to prompt the speaker, asking clarifying questions, and taking notes. Distractions and personal biases can hinder our ability to listen effectively. Furthermore, effective listening is directly related to memory; improving our listening skills and practicing memory techniques often can dramatically increase our ability to capture the speakers message.
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.
A skill, according the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, is a learned power of doing something competently: a developed aptitude or ability. The skill of listening is a skill that I believe everyone should have but most people lack. Many people do not realize that listening is not merely the act of hearing a sound but of paying close attention to what someone is saying and trying to understand the message that they are trying to relate to you. Most times people say they are listening when in all actuality they are merely hearing you but not even attempting to understand what is being spoken of. The advantages of being a good listener are vast. This skill can positively affect many parts of our everyday life and interaction with people. Nevertheless, it is a skilled that is overlooked in today’s unmindful society. The reason I believe that listening is of such importance is because nowadays people have developed the mentality of “every man for himself.” People are not concerned about their fellows anymore. We are only concerned about our own issues and problems. Listening is a skill that is acquired throughout a lifetime. It is an important virtue when it comes to communication.People should be taught from childhood the importance of learning how to listen. If we realized how much we would benefit from being good listeners, I believe that things would change. Lack of listening skills affects marriages, parents and children, teachers and students, employers and employees, foreign affairs, and the list goes on.