LISTENING

EFFECTIVE LISTENING, THE LISTENING PROCESS, AND TYPES OF LISTENING

EFFECTIVE LISTENING
WHAT IS LISTENING?

• Listening is a skill of critical significance in all aspects of our lives–from maintaining our
personal relationships, to getting our jobs done, to taking notes in class, to figuring out
which bus to take to the airport. Regardless of how we’re engaged with listening, it’s
important to understand that listening involves more than just hearing the words that are
directed at us. Listening is an active process by which we make sense of, assess, and
respond to what we hear.
WHATS EFFECTIVE LISTENING IS?

• Effective listening is actively absorbing the information

given to you by a speaker, showing that you are listening
and interested, and providing feedback to the speaker so
that he or she knows the message was received.
WHAT EFFECTIVE LISTENING IS?

• Active listening is a technique that is used in counseling, training, and solving

disputes or conflicts. It requires the listener to fully concentrate, understand,
respond and then remember what is being said. This is opposed to other listening
techniques like reflective listening and empathic listening.
IMPORTANCE OF EFFECTIVE LISTENING

• Active listening builds strong relationships and, while it may not come naturally
to many of us, it's an invaluable communication skill. Becoming an
excellent listener will take determination and practice and it will be well worth it in
both your professional and personal life.
FEATURES OF EFFECTIVE LISTENING

• Neutral and nonjudgmental.

• Patient (periods of silence are not "filled")
• Verbal and nonverbal feedback to show signs of listening (e.g., smiling, eye contact, leaning in,
mirroring)
• Asking questions.
• Reflecting back what is said.
• Asking for clarification.
• Summarizing.
HOW TO BECOME AND ACTIVE/EFFECTIVE
LISTENER?
• 1. Approach each dialogue with the goal to learn something.
• Think of the person as someone who can teach you.
• 2. Stop talking and focus closely on the speaker.
• Suppress the urge to think about what you’re going to say next or to multitask.
• 3. Open and guide the conversation.
• Open and guide the conversation with broad, open-ended questions such as “what other
strategic alternatives did you consider” or "how do you envision..." Avoid close-ended
questions that can be answered with just a “yes” or “no.”
HOW TO BECOME AND ACTIVE/EFFECTIVE
LISTENER?
• 4. Drill down to the details.
• Drill down to the details by asking directive, specific questions that focus the conversation, such
as "Tell me more about..." "How did you come to this conclusion?" or "How would this work?"
• 5. Summarize what you hear and ask questions to check your understanding.
• Questions such as"If I’m understanding you..." or "Tell me if this is what you’re saying...."
• 6. Encourage with positive feedback.
• If you can see that a speaker has some trouble expressing a point or lacks confidence, encourage
him or her with a smile, a nod or a positive question to show your interest.
HOW TO BECOME AND ACTIVE/EFFECTIVE
LISTENER?
• 7. Listen for total meaning.
• Understand that in addition to what is being said, the real message may be non-verbal or
emotional. Checking body language is one way to seek true understanding.
• 8. Pay attention to your responses.
• Remember that the way you respond to a question also is part of the dialogue. Keep an
open mind and show respect for the other person’s point of view even if you disagree
with it.
PROCESS OF EFFECTIVE LISTENING
HEARING

• Hearing is the first essential step in the listening process and

relates to the sensory perception of sound. The listener further
processes the perceived sound. For learning to be effective,
hearing needs to be done with attention and concentration.
FILTERING

• The next step involves sensing and filtering of heard sounds. The heard message is
categorized as wanted or unwanted, useful or useless. The unwanted message is
discarded. In this step, the sense of judgement of the individual comes into play, that is,
the filtering process is subjective and a person chooses to retain what makes sense to him.
COMPREHENDING

• The next level of listening consists of comprehending or understanding. The listener

understands or interprets what the speaker has tried to convey. This activity can be
described as absorbing, grasping or assimilating. In order to grasp the meaning of the
message, the listener uses his knowledge, experience, perception and cognitive power.
The verbal and auditory message is coupled with non-verbal communication to
understand it.
REMEMBERING

• Remembering relates to a process whereby the assimilated message is stored in memory

to facilitate future recall. Remembering assumes significance because many times
messages received are meant not for immediate consideration but for future use.
RESPONDING

• For listening to be complete, a response is important. Responding to a message may take

place at the end of the communication, immediately after or later. When it is stored for
future use, the response may take place later. However, if there is a need to seek
clarification or to empathize with the listener, it may take place earlier. Responding may
also take the form of prodding or prompting in order to show that the message is being
received and comprehended.
TYPES OF EFFECTIVE LISTENING
• There are four different types of listening that are essential to know when deciding what
your goal as the listener is. The four types of listening are appreciative, empathic,
comprehensive, and critical.
APPRECIATIVE

• When you listen for appreciation you are listening for enjoyment. Think about the music
you listen to. You usually listen to music because you enjoy it. The same can be said for
appreciative listening when someone is speaking. Some common types of appreciative
listening can be found in sermons from places of worship, from a motivational speech by
people we respect or hold in high regard, or even from a standup comedian who makes us
laugh.
EMPHATIC

• When you listen empathically you are doing so to show mutual concern. During this type
of listening you are trying to identify with the speaker by understanding the situation in
which he/she is discussing. You are stepping into the other’s shoes to get a better
understanding of what it is he/she is talking about. Usually during this type of listening
you want to be fully present in the moment or mindfully listening to what the speaker is
saying. Your goal during this time is to focus on the speaker, not on yourself. You are
trying to understand from the speaker’s perspective.
COMPREHENSIVE

• If you are watching the news, listening to a lecture, or getting directions from someone,
you are listening to understand or listening to comprehend the message that is being sent.
This process is active. In class, you should be focused, possibly taking notes of the
speaker’s main ideas. Identifying the structure of the speech and evaluating the supports
he/she offers as evidence. This is one of the more difficult types of listening because it
requires you to not only concentrate but to actively participate in the process. The more
you practice listening to comprehend, the stronger listener you become.
CRITICAL

• Have you ever had to buy an expensive item, such as a new appliance, a car, a cell phone, or an
iPad? You probably did some research beforehand and listened closely to the salesperson when you
went to compare brands. Or perhaps your best friend is telling you about some medical tests he/she
recently had done. You listen closely so you can help your friend understand her results and the
possible ramifications of the findings. Both of these scenarios are examples of critical listening.
Critical listening is listening to evaluate the content of the message. As a critical listener you are
listening to all parts of the message, analyzing it, and evaluating what you heard. When engaging
in critical listening, you are also critically thinking. You are making mental judgments based on
what you see, hear, and read. Your goal as a critical listener is to evaluate the message that is being
sent and decide for yourself if the information is valid.