Today, communication is one of man’s most imperative skills, and communication depends happen the sense of hearing. Even when we are communicating by visual means, such as writing or typing, we are still using the language that most of us first learned by hearing before we were even out of the womb. Hearing can be defined as the ability which helps in the perception of sound through atmospheres that are being detected by the ear. This is a biological or physical process. Listening, though it may seem similar to hearing, is however, different in that it entails perceiving and understanding the message that was heard. Listening involves the use of a person’s sense of sight and hearing.
Effective listening, therefore, involves the process by which a person understands, interprets, and analyses the information received through hearing. It is an active process that is learned through time. Effective listening skills are not only useful in understanding verbal speech, but also enable a person to derive a conclusion from the speaker’s body language. The ability to listen is essential for success in all relationships. Effective listening skills involve a person paying full attention to the speaker, and having the ability to ignore all eternal distractions. Communicating and listening is very important in our daily life. The pie chart below shows the time people spend communicating.
There are three major levels of listening. First of all, level one, the Internal Listening. When a person listens at this level, they are actually listening to the sound of their own inner voice. That’s where their attention is. They may hear the words of the other person, but they are primarily aware of their own opinions, stories, and judgments of their ow...
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In a Nutshell, almost everyone sincerely believes that he or she listens effectively. Consequently, very few people think they need to develop their listening skills. But, in fact, listening effectively is something that very few of us can do. It's not because listening effectively is so difficult. Most of us have just never developed the habits that would make us effective listeners. Research has found that by listening effectively, you will get more information from the people you manage, you will increase others' trust in you, you will reduce conflict, you will better understand how to motivate others, and you will inspire a higher level of commitment in the people you manage.
Works Cited
(: Adler, R., Rosenfeld, L. and Proctor, R. (2001) , 2001)
(Steil, Lyman K., and Richard K. Bommelje. Listening Leaders, 2004)
In Rane’s article, “Good Listening Skills Make Efficient Business Sense” the author looks at way effective listening is just as important to the communication process as speech. Rane points out there is distinct difference between hearing and listening; hearing is simply “a physical and passive activity, whereas listening is necessarily a mental activity and hence it is active in nature…” (2011, p. 44). While a person can continuously hear what another person is saying, in order for an individual to truly hear what another is saying, they need to be actively engaged in the communication process (Rane, 2011). The article delves in to the significance that listening has throughout a successful business: from a manager’s ability to listen to their
What is the primary reason you, personally, "tune out" and fail to listen effectively? What advantages and what problems does it result in? What specific steps can you, personally, take to become a better listener?
Talking and listening are essential life skills. The ability to talk in order to communicate and exchange ideas and information, to negotiate with others, to express feelings and emotions, allows human beings to function well in the world and to be full and active members of society. Communication, to be effective, requires the ability to listen, to understand and to make sense of what is heard. On the personal level, when we listen, we give attention to the other person in such a way as to allow them to feel heard, understood and therefore respected. In that way, listening is more than just functional, it matters in the building and maintaining of family life, in communities and in society as a whole. Our ability to talk and listen begins in childhood when we start to develop these important skills. There are factors which will enhance this opportunity, and factors which are not helpful.
Listening is the “active process of receiving and responding to spoken (and sometimes unspoken) messages. Active listening skills is making sense of what is heard and requires the individual to constantly pay attention, interpret, and remember what is heard”. For example, I am required to be an active listener at my job. I need to hear the words my boss says to me and identify the feelings associated with the words or her point of view. I concentrate on her words and make eye contact with her as well as read her body language / non-verbal signs. I make sure she feels I have her undivided attention and I do so with a pleasant face…not a baked potato face. Even if I feel stressed by her words or instructions, it would not be professional of me to display that expression.
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.
In order to listen, we must keep the conversation open. Some people won't tell us everything on their minds, so we may have to question them to keep the conversation going. All of our questions should relate to who, what, why, where, when and how.
Listening can be difficult or challenging no matter who or what situation you may encounter. In this refection I have utilized the four styles of listening that people use when listening, depending on their preferences and purpose, as originated by Baker, L.L. (1971). Listening Behavior. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall Watson, K.W. and Baker, L.L. (1995). Listening Styles
The skill of listening according to Dr. Robert Bolton (1979) extends beyond simply hearing sound as a physiological sensory process but instead requires and involves interpreting and understanding the sensory experience or what is being heard (p 32). It also is an active experience wherein the listener is fully engaged and has absorbed the information of the speaker while showing interest and providing feedback all while demonstrating that they have heard and understand the message. It is a fair assertion that most people in varying relationships and environments listen in what is considered a passive capacity or only digesting and processing bits and pieces of the speaker’s message. This type of listening lends itself to frequent miscommunication, mixed messages and overall misunderstandings. Effective listening on the other hand provides concise communication, decreases interpersonal conflict and mistakes and also...
Working with people can be very difficult. To handle the various aspects of individual personalities we must develop our own skills in listening, assertiveness, negotiation, feedback, persuasion, interviewing, and coaching. Listening is a part of the communications process in which a message is received and interpreted. I find listening to be the easiest skill to use. However, not everyone utilizes it fully. Listening involves more than just hearing the words being spoken. It requires actually letting the words soak in, not jumping to conclusions, and understanding what is being said. The simple act of active listening can cut through so many barriers especially when dealing with a difficult situation. When there is a lapse in listening, communication in the workplace breaks down.
As a professional in today’s society, it is greatly important to be able to communicate effectively with other professionals, with clients, and with those that are encountered in daily living. In order to communicate in a proper manner, not only is talking and non-verbal communication, but a large aspect is the ability to listen. Listening is a vital task in order to build a relationship and find meaning in someone else’s words. In order to find this meaning one must follow the characteristics of active listening, face the challenges to listening, and reflect upon one’s own listening skills.
Listening is a skill that requires active, rather than passive, participation to advance shared understanding and minimise misinterpretation. Active listening strategies such as analysing and displaying non-verbal body language, clarifying meaning and accuracy, expressing understanding for the speaker’s feelings through empathy and moments of silence contribute to effective communication. These methods encourage the speaker to convey his or her thoughts and minimises misinterpretation between sender and receiver.
In all aspects in life effective listening plays an important role in our lives, both professionally and personally. As many of know from experience listening is never easy in fact it can be difficult to understand what is being said by the speaker. Because of laps in attention we tend to misunderstand some of the messages that are being relayed to us or disregard them altogether. Effective listening is important for receiving the correct feedback from those you’re speaking with and requires a focus that should be central to what is being said or what topic is being discussed.
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.
Communication is the process of connecting two or more person. Listening is the best way to communicate effectively with others. It is the important process that occur before everyone can achieve communication. Listening means someone using their both ears to hear what others says, and their brain automatically can notice the meaning of the message in short time (Rost, 1990). The power of listening is very unbelievable. According to Mberia (2011), there are five important process in listening process namely hearing, filtering, interpreting, responding and remembering.
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.