Importance Of Listening And Understanding

• I have decided that my research question will be an adaptation of Stephen Coveys above statement as the topic of listening and understanding is very important and interesting to me.

We do not listen to understand, we listen to reply. Why?

• I would show how understanding is very important in everyday life and why we need it to succeed. We need to comprehend from a very young age and we use this developing skill the whole way through our lives, (Robinson and Robinson 1977).

• I will focus my research on the barriers to understanding when communicating. For example, systematic barriers, attitudinal barriers and language barriers. Collectively, these barriers limit understanding and therefore warrant a quick and easy reply with next to no

I rely heavily on social media to convey the message that ‘It is okay not to be okay’ and sending a simple, positive message is very important, (Rabbitts 2015).

• I will explain how nowadays people listen just to give an answer, not to actually take in what the other person is saying. Everything today is instant and usually done by text, rather than through a verbal conversation, (Schmitz n.d.).

• I will show how today, communication lacks emotion and it is impossible to read into what a person is saying when communicating through a screen, regardless of how many emoji’s they use, (Derks and Baker 2010).

• I would emphasise how we must read between the lines and understand that a person may be sending a cry for help or just need a listening ear. With the enormous amount of technology surrounding us today it is hard to have a conversation with someone face-to-face without sharing their attention with a phone or laptop screen. Listening is very important and essential when interpreting a message, communication has changed and therefore we must improve our communication skills to adapt to this change, (Regan

The experiments with the children age 5, 6, 7 and 9 year olds also incorporates how understanding and the ability to communicate effectively increases with age. I found it interesting how they tested the children’s understanding and listening skills collectively using one child describing what he/she sees and the other listening attentively to ensure they pick the correct corresponding card. It ultimately shows when one listens properly and concentrates on understanding the message, the message itself is more likely to be comprehended and the right action taken. In this case, the describing child will give a clear description of the drawing and the listening child will be more equipped to choose the correct