 Tohear = to have the capacity of

apprehending sound

 Tolisten = to hear something with

thoughtful attention.

Merriam Webster Dictionary

 Listening is an active skill that involves
different steps:
 Identifythe spoken signals (words, sounds)
 Separate the stream of speech into segments that are
recognizable.
 Understand the intended message.
 Respond to the message.

 Usually we do all of these steps at the same time.

 Active listening = listening in order to interpret
the meaning of what you hear.

 The listener receives input, transforms it and joins

it to previous knowledge in order to interpret it.
 How good a listener are you?

 Assess your own listening skills.

 Tobe an effective listener, you must
respond with verbal and nonverbal clues.
 These responses are called feedback.
 Brief statements work better than questions.

 Statements allow you to reflect what you've

heard.

 It allows the speaker to elaborate further.

• Hear the reason for the
customer’s call: do this by letting
the customer talk about why they
are calling.
Focus on what the customer has to
say: do this by not allowing yourself
to be distracted.
Listen for what the customer is
interested in: do this by not
interrupting and allowing the customer
to talk.
 You will hear what you want to hear.

 You will hear what you expect to hear.

 Listening takes time.

A mind constantly buzzing with plans

and anxieties is difficult to clear.
 Goodlistening requires the temporary
suspension of all unrelated thoughts.

 Telephone conversations are

considered as priceless listening
opportunities.
 Work in a group to discuss the barriers to
listening and find solutions.
 Noisy work space

 Visual distractions

 Tiredness
 Stress or mental restlessness

 Customer speaks too slowly / too

much

 Customer speaks too fast / has an

accent
• Don’t shout at the customer.

• Don’t be rude to the customer.

• Apologize and rephrase the

information.
 Speakslowly and clearly to facilitate
understanding.

 Whengiving information, use Echo

words.

 Offer
to spell something that is not
understood.
• Decide to be a better listener.

• Listen for statements, objections or

questions.

• Take notes as you listen, especially

during longer conversations.
 When in doubt as to what was said, ask
questions.

 Don’t interrupt the caller. When you

interrupt, you aren’t listening.
 Show that you are actively listening by using verbal
response signals such as “Yes”, “Go on”, “I see” that
let your customer know that you are paying
attention.

 Paraphrase what the other person has said by

repeating back the content of what you heard, using
your own words.
 Improving our listening skills will make the
difference in our performance.

 We will be another step closer to excellence.