Effective Listening Skills By Dr. Stephen R. Covey

I. INTRODUCTION:
"We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.” However, people nowadays keep interrupting the person who talking in front of them with questions and advices in which they mistakenly think that will make them an expert in communication. But, keep on listening while saying nothing and ask questions for clarify at the end is a better approach. This is called effective listening skill. According to IEEE-HKN Advanced Learning Workshop, effective listening skill is the ability to actively understand information provided by the speaker, and display interest in the topic discussed. It is very important to master this skill set because it will “fostering good self-esteem, maximizing productivity, and

Stephen R. Covey—an American educator, author, businessman, and keynote speaker—mentioned that before anyone want to effectively interact with other people, they must first listen with the intend to understand the speaker, both intellectually and emotionally. This is listed as his habit 5. Yet, “you’ve spent years of your life learning how to read and write, years learning how to speak. But what about listening?” [covey] This is no easy task. It can take up to an entire life time of a human being to master this skill as most people nowadays mainly think about themselves or look at everything only with their own perspective. I am also belong to this group of people. To be honest, this is my worst habit among all seven habits that Dr. Covey pointed out in his book. However, this paper includes the plans that I have for the next 30 days in order to change this habit and become more effective

Therefore, throughout a conservation, there are several steps to follow in order to become a better listener which is also recommended by the IEEE themselves. Step 1 is to face the “speaker” with full attention and maintain good eye contact while trying to be relax. Next phase is to picturize the speaker’s story. Then, ask clarifying questions during pauses or at the end. It is very bad and rude to interrupts or imposes solutions midway. So, this is should be avoided. Also, during this process, it is better to keep open mind and try to understand the feeling of the speaker. Additionally, only provide feedback or suggestions if asked by the