Listening Skills - Topic 2

TOPIC no. 2: LISTENING SKILLS 1  Communication Skills: HUM x64 TOPIC 2 : LISTENING SKILLS : 2.1 What is listening? 2.2 Things that we listen to actively. 2.3 Why You Need Good Listening Skills. 2.4 Reason why we listen. 2.5 Tips to Effective and Active Listening Skill...

TOPIC no. 2: LISTENING SKILLS 1  Communication Skills: HUM x64 TOPIC 2 : LISTENING SKILLS : 2.1 What is listening? 2.2 Things that we listen to actively. 2.3 Why You Need Good Listening Skills. 2.4 Reason why we listen. 2.5 Tips to Effective and Active Listening Skills. 2.6. How to prepare. 2.7 Difficulties encountered while listening & Barriers to effective listening. 2.8 Possible remedies. 2  2.1 What is listening? : Listening in dialogue is listening more to meaning than to words. In true listening, we reach behind the words; see through them, to find the person who is being revealed. Listening is a search to find the treasure of the true person as revealed verbally and nonverbally. There is the semantic problem, of course. The words bear a different connotation for you than they do for me. Consequently, I can never tell you what you said, but only what I heard. I will have to rephrase what you have said, and check it out with you to make sure that what left your mind and heart arrived in my mind and heart intact and without distortion. 3 2.1 What is listening? : Listening is a process by which sounds communicated by some sources are received, critically interpreted and acted upon by a purposed listener. Listening is to pay attention to somebody or something that you can hear (Oxford Dictionary). Listening requires a high level of concentration and energy. True listening requires that we suspend judgment, evaluation and approval in an attempt to understand his reference, emotions and attitudes. Listening to understand is a difficult task! 4 2.1 What is listening? : Listening is an important aid to communication. Listening is a complex process with three main phases: Receive - receving all the signals being sent to you, both verbal and non-verbal. Comprehend – try to understand what you have sensed and consider what you means. Respond - ask questions and reflect back your understanding. 5 The difference between hearing and listening: Hearing - It is just the perception of sound by the ear or receiving sound by the ear, which is an involuntary sense and the reception here is not accompanied by concentration and awareness. Hearing is a functional process, does not require special skills, and does not require a person to learn it, i.e. it is innate and unacquired. Listening - It is the conscious perception of sound that you listen to, understanding voices, receiving ideas, inferring facts, criticizing the audio material and expressing opinions in the other. 6 The difference between hearing and listening: 7  2.2 Things that we listen to actively: i. Music ii. Lecturer iii. News iv. Sermons v. Discussions vi. Advices vii. Gossips 8  2.3 Why You Need Good Listening Skills: Good listening skills increase productivity amongst workers. The ability to listen carefully will allow you to: i. Understand better the assignments and what is expected of you by you teachers and Lecturers. ii. It build rapport among colleagues, your bosses, and the customers. iii. It boast team-work. iv. Many problems, between workers and bosses are resolved through listening. v. Through listening you can be able to answer many questions and correctly. 9  2.4 Reason why we listen: Good communication skills require a high level of self-awareness. By understanding your personal style of communicating, you will go a long way towards creating good and lasting impressions with others. The way to become a better listener is to practice active listening. 10  2.4.1 Types of listening: We listen so as to:- Listening for information Listening for fun Types of Critical listening or enjoyment listening Emotional listening 11  Critical Listening Listening for Information The evaluation of the article on This type includes listening to which the subject of the the facts and in this type it is communication is going on necessary to determine the and the person who listens here basic benefit of the subject searches for the speaker's matter of communication and motives, ideas and information, the main aspects it contains. and this type of listening is evident when listening to convincing messages. 12  Emotional or empathic (Listening for Enjoyment) Listening This type of listening that the This type of listening, which is individual chooses to do with the aim of achieving certain pleasure based on feelings and is done may choose to listen to complex by the individual in the communication messages using framework of personal contact all the skills of listening and focusing because it achieves a with the aim of sharing the certain satisfaction. For example speaker's emotions, problems listening to a training program and ideas, is an example when that you have chosen yourself and you have an urgent desire to you listen to your friend in a attend and benefit or Develop a particular situation. certain skill. 13  2.4.2 Levels of listening: 4. ATTENTIVE LISTENING 3. SELECTIVE LISTENING 2. PRETENDING LISTENING 1. IGNORING LISTENING 14  1. IGNORING LISTENING A topic was mentioned that I do not care about from near or far, and I did not pay any attention to it which means zero listening. 2. PRETENDING LISTENING When your mind is busy solving a certain problem at work and affecting your life and at the same time you attend a family meeting and pretend to listen but in fact you do not listen because the mind is busy finding a solution to the problem that is at work. 15  3. SELECTIVE LISTENING When you listen to a conversation that goes on next to you and you are busy with another job such as writing or studying your lessons or reading a book with focus, but at the same time you give what is going on around you a listening ear, and you know that there is a conversation going on around you, and you can pay attention to a certain part of it and focus on it as you wish. Which means just listening to parts of the talk that important to me. 4. ATTENTIVE LISTENING When your mind is in ready. In which the interaction and focus is done with the speaker and followed strongly and attentively, this is listening which is the highest level of listening. Which means Attention, concentration and response with the heart and mind to understand what is said and its purposes. 16  If people are bad listeners:- i. Only inaccurate and incomplete information would be exchanged. ii. Problems would not be clearly understood and would remain unsolved. iii. They would not be able to share one another's experiences. 17  2.5 Tips to Effective and Active Listening Skills: Here are the tips to effective listening according to:- i. Face the speaker - Sit up straight or lean forward slightly to show your attentiveness through body language. Maintain eye contact, to the degree that you all remain comfortable. ii. Minimize external distractions - Turn off the TV. Put down your book or magazine, and ask the speaker and other listeners to do the same. iii. Respond appropriately to show that you understand. iv. Focus solely on what the speaker is saying. Try not to think about what you are going to say next. The conversation will follow a logical flow after the speaker makes her point. 18  2.5 Tips to Effective and Active Listening Skills: Here are the tips to effective listening according to:- v. Minimize internal distractions- If your own thoughts keep horning in, simply let them go and continuously re-focus your attention on the speaker. vi. Keep an open mind -Wait until the speaker is through before deciding that you disagree. Try not to make assumptions about what the speaker is thinking. vii. Even if the speaker is launching a complaint against you, wait until they finish to defend yourself. viii. Engage yourself- Ask questions for clarification, but, once again, wait until the speaker has finished. You should not interrupt the speaker. 19  2.5 Tips to Effective and Active Listening Skills: Here are the tips to effective listening according to:- ix. To become a good listener you should concentrate on what the person is saying rather than on how he looks. Do not be distracted by his physical. x. You should listen with a positive attitude. Many listener fail to listen because They are mentally unprepared to listen. Do not let your prejudices close your mind to what the other person has to say. xi. Repeat the key ideas to yourself. Particularly, while listening to a long lecture see if you can repeat to yourself all the important ideas the speaker has put before you. This will also help you to understand the lecture better. 20  2.6 How to become a good listener, How to prepare: For you to be a good listener, firstly you must prepare for listening: Concentrate on what a person is saying rather than how he looks and mannerism. Nod your head to show you are understanding. Repeat the key ideas to yourself. It will help you understand better. Try to relate the speakers remarks to your personal background and experiences. Listen with a positive attitude. Listen with an open-mind Repeat instructions and ask appropriate questions when the speaker has finished Give the speaker your full attention. Avoid looking out of the window or at what else is going on in the room. Maintain eye contact. 21 2.7 Difficulties encountered while listening & Barriers to effective listening: Listening is affected by various factors such as:- i. Audibility - if the speaker is not louder enough then listening becomes an issue. ii. Accent - this can happen when the speaker is influenced by mother tongue. It affects pronunciation. iii. Speed of delivery - if the speaker is too fast and the listener is writing and interpreting at the same time, listening becomes a problem. iv. Boring speaker - when the speaker is boring, your mind is tempted to wander elsewhere. 22 2.7 Difficulties encountered while listening: Listening is affected by various factors such as:- v. Language barrier - the language the speaker is using determines if you will listen and understand or not. vi. Noise - from the environment destructs the listeners from listening. vii. Semantic destruction - semantic refers to meaning of language used. The language used by the speaker can be hard to the listener. viii. Physical disabilities - a listener can have problem in listening if your ears have problems or if the speaker is a stammerer. ix. Code-switching - switching from one language to another or use terms which are not commonly used affects listening. 23  Gender Differences as a barriers to effective listening: a. Women listen for relational subtext, men for content. b. Women interpret listening noises ( uh huh, mmm ) to signify they are listening, men use them to signify agreement. 24  2.8 Possible remedies: There are several habits one can adopt that will lead to a higher level of listening proficiency. This are:- i. To overcome the habit of selective listening, paraphrase or mirror back what you hear to ensure you understand other points of view. ii. If the parties feel overwhelmed or tired which affects listening, a better strategy is to take a break from the conversation. iii. Be an active listener. To be an active listener, you have to be a good observer too. iv. Provide clues that you are actively involved through asking questions, nodding etc. v. Refrain from formulating an immediate response. vi. Prepare beforehand. vii. Ensure the environment is conducive for listening. 25 End of Topic no. 2 26