Effective Listening

Abstract

Active listening includes a variety of behaviors which communicate to the other that they are heard and understood, that the feelings which underlie the words are appreciated and accepted, and that regardless of what the individual says, thinks or feels, they are accepted as a person by the listener. Active listening demands that the receiver of the message put aside the belief that listening is easy and that it happens naturally and realize that effective listening is hard work. Good listening encourages the speaker, promotes trust and respect, improves relationships, and makes resolution of problems more likely. Good listeners are prepared to listen, show interest, keep an open mind, listen critically, resist distractions, make notes, ask questions, and summarize what was being said.

 One of the most important people skill is effective listening. Listening is hard work; it is active not passive. Effective communication begins with learning to listen before speaking. Listening is difficult because people don’t work as hard at it as they should. Active listening includes a variety of behaviors which communicate to the other that they are heard and understood, that the feelings which underlie the words are appreciated and accepted, and that regardless of what the individual says, thinks or feels, they are accepted as a person by the listener. Listening is often a neglectful skill. There are several important steps to remember when trying to achieve effective listening. Many positive outcomes result from effective listening. Effective Listening is key to good communication.

Listening is often a neglected skill. “...failure to devote time to listening will communicate an attitude of conceit and a closed mind.”(Gladson 1990). Most people believe that listening is natural and doesn’t require hard work and practice. “Listening deserves to be taken more seriously for several important reasons: (1) As a major information acquisition system, good listening increases the accuracy of reception....(2) By preparing for and using good listening techniques the listener enhance receptivity in other techniques....(3) The good listener should be a discriminating listener.”(Bradford 1993). People tend to process incoming information quicker than its output by the speaker causing them to quickly jump to conclusions, evaluate, or predict what will be said next. “Most individuals speak at the rate of 175 to 200 words per minute. However, research suggests that we are very capable of listening and processing words at the rate of 6000 to 1,000 words per minute....This unused brain power can be a barrier to effective listening, causing the auditor to miss or misinterpret what others are saying.”(Lewis 2003). Listeners are often side tracked when listening, whether it be internal or external distractions. People have a habit of only listening to what they want to hear instead of what is actually being said.

There are several methods to achieving effective listening. Concentrate on what others are saying. Make yourself shut out other challenges facing you and simply listen. Don’t allow yourself to do other things as you listen, such as answering the phone, doing paperwork, or checking your e-mail. Effective listening is difficult and requires all of your attention and effort. The listener needs to focus on what is being said so they will not misinterpret what the speaker is trying to say. Paraphrase or rephrase what the speaker was saying in your own words to ensure that you heard the information accurately. It is important to make sure you received the message the same way the speaker intended you to. “Paraphrasing is a great technique for improving your listening and problem-solving skills. First, you have to listen very carefully if you are going to accurately paraphrase what you heard. Second, the paraphrasing response will clarify for the sender that his or her message was correctly received...”(Lewis 2003). Ask questions to clarify points or to obtain additional information. Open-ended questions are the best because the require the speaker to convey more information. It is also important to reflect the implied. “Reflecting is a technique in which the receiver restates key information the sender has sent for the purpose of gaining clarity.