LISTENING SKILLS

Definition:

Listening is a process of receiving, interpreting and reacting to a message from the

speaker.
No communication process is complete without listening
Listening is an important skill. Listening is quite similar to reading as it involves
reception and decoding of the verbal message from the other person. The following
example illustrates importance of listening

Example:

In a biology class teacher asked the students to refer to a book titled “Origin of Species”
One of the students sincerely went to library searched to the catalogue of library, looking for
book named “Orange and Peaches” but to his utter dismay he could not find it. When he
approached the teacher he found that the book was entitled “Origin of Species”. This is what
happens when there is lack of concentration in listening

Hearing and Listening

Listening requires our focus and attention to understand the things which we hear. No effort
is put by an individual to hear as it is an involuntary process but it requires effort to listen as
this is a voluntary process done by the individual. The brain deciphers and understands the
received sound waves and an appropriate decision is taken.

Parameter of
Hearing Listening
Comparison

It refers to the natural ability of an

It refers to the conscious process done by
individual to receive and perceive the
Definition the individual on receiving the sound by
pressure waves (sound) with the help of
paying attention and understanding it.
ears.

Process Involuntary process (passive). Voluntary process (active).

It is a skill to be learnt which comes by

Characteristics It is an inherent ability.
practice.

It is essential to pay attention as the

It is not necessary to pay attention as
Paying attention individual tries to understand and act on
hearing happens naturally.
what is being heard.

Occurs at It happens in the subconscious state. It occurs at the conscious state.

Nature Physiological state. Psychological state.

Types of Listening
1) Active listening is called as attentive listening. Active listening involves attention, careful
consideration, concentration of the speaker’s ideas. The listener Participates in
communication process actively and attentively.

•The listener nods his head, leans forward or show positive body language, which supports
and encourages the speaker to communicate more enthusiastically. This is positive type of
listening

2) Passive Listening:
Unlike active listening, passive listening does not require any special effort other than hearing
what is being said. A passive listener usually does not interrupt the speaker or perform any
other action whatsoever at the same time in which the speaker is delivering his or her speech.
Typically, a passive listener does not nod his or her head, make appropriate facial expression
and maintain eye contacts with the speaker or engage in any other action that indicates he or
she is paying attention.

Examples of passive listening include, communicating on the phone to your mother while
checking Facebook, Instagram or texting your friend during a lecture.

Other types of Listening

Critical listening:
Critical listening can also be called as ‘evaluating listening’. This type of listening involves
critical evaluation of the speaker’s thoughts and ideas. The listener assesses speaker’s depth
of knowledge, choice of words and tone and style of the listener.

•This type of listening is used in seminars, conferences, group discussions, and other formal
type of interactions. The listener encourages and motivates the speaker to speak more and
more.

•Empathetic listening:
•This Type of listening exercises emotional influence on the listener not only understands the
literal message but also understand the feeling, emotions, and the world view of the speaker.

Traits of a good listener:

 Being non evaluative:

•If you are an active listener your verbal and non- verbal behaviour should suggest the
speaker that he is being properly heard and understood. It should not indicate what you think
about a person. The purpose is to communicate overlooking the qualities of the speaker.
•The behaviour of the listener should convey the impression that you accept the person
without making judgment of right or wrong, good or bad, suitable or unsuitable.

 Paraphrasing(summarize)
If you wish to clarify a point, you can simply summarize what the speaker has said and
enquire the speaker whether you have heard it accurately or not.

 Inviting further contribution

•In a situation where listener haven’t heard or understood enough. The listener can respond
with empathy and understanding, prompt the speaker to give more information
•The idea here is to get a better understanding of the subject by asking questions. But the
questions should be for seeking information not to interrogate or challenge the speaker.

 Responding non-verbally
•Listener can portray his image as that of an active listener by adopting certain postures, and
sending non-verbal signal which communicates the listener’s interest in what the speaker is
Saying. This may include eye contact, leaning forward towards the listener, head nodding.
•Listener can also use some receptive utterances like ‘yes’ ‘un-hum’ to indicate that message
of speaker is being understood.

BARRIERS TO EFFECTIVE LISTENING

The factors which are creating barriers in effective listening are as follows:

Space Distance: Distance between the speaker and the listener from long distance may affect
the listening process. If the speaker is speaking from long distance, the listener may struggle
to grasp what the speaker is speaking. Some of the words may be misunderstood by the
listener.

Omniscient attitude of the listener:

Many people considered themselves as ‘know all’ men. They think that they have perfect
knowledge of everything in the world. According to them listening to others is pure waste of
time. They are not listening to the speakers because they thing that they already know what
he is going to say.

Infrastructure: Poor Infrastructure may affect listening process. Lack of proper ventilation,
light, acoustics can act as a barrier to listening

Speed of the speaker: Speed of the speaker can act as a barrier to listening. If the speaker is
speaking too speedily, the listeners have no other alternative left than watching speaker. The
Human brain receives sounds at a specific speed. If this speed is not maintained properly, the
listener’s may get distracted.

Speakers' Non-verbal communication:

•Speaker’s no use of facial expression, gestures, body language, eye contact and other factors
can create barriers to listening. If the speaker relies only on verbal expressions, the listener
will be tired of constant bombardment of words and verbal expressions.

Voice and tone of the speaker: the listener will feel bored and fade up to listen to
monotones speech. If the speaker’s voice is not audible, the listener may not listen to it
attentively.
•On the contrary, many speakers maintain a monotonous tone which irritates the listener.

Language of the speaker: If the speaker is using high technical jargon and difficult words
, the listener will be clueless about the meaning of those words. They will try to find meaning
of those words instead of listening to the speaker.

Horn Effect in the Listener:

The horn effect is tendency to underestimate a person as bad in all the fields because he is
bad in one of the field. The listeners reject and nullify the speaker’s chance to speak for more
amount of time because listeners dislike the speaker.

Span of the Speech: The process of listening can take place for a limited period of time. If
the speaker is speaking for hours to gather, the listener turns into passive listener.
TECHNIQUES TO IMPROVE LISTENING SKILLS

•Motivate yourself to listen

Listeners should motivate their mind to listen to the speaker carefully. They should prepare
themselves to listen to others willingly.
Listening cannot be forced or imposed on the person. Individual should know the value and
importance of listening.

•Respect the speaker: Listeners should have respect for the speaker. They should not
underestimate the speaker’s ideas and thoughts.
•Even if, the listener disagrees with some of the ideas of the speaker, they should show their
disagreement positively.

•Remove Horn effect:

•Do not underestimate a person because he has couple of flaws in his behaviour.
•Many people are like rough diamonds. They need to be understood carefully. The speaker
ideas can be rejected or doubted by the listeners. However listener should nor insult or dislike
the speaker.

•Positive body language:

•Listener should maintain positive body language like nod of head, leaning forward, maintain
erect postures, during communication.

Moreover listener should not create any type of distractions by using unnecessary body
language. Many listeners revolve notebook, or any other object in their hand.

•Do not interrupt: Listeners should not interrupt the speaker unnecessarily. Many listeners
have tendency to make remarks or comments during speech. Moreover many listeners repeat
the words and expression of the speaker loudly

•Improve your listening span:

•Listeners should get training for enhancing their span of active listening. Many a times, we
have to listen to speeches or lectures for long duration.

•Speaker’s use of appropriate body language:

Speaker should use positive body language Otherwise Listeners will be observing these body
movements and thereby neglect ideas and expressions of the speaker.

•Voice modulation: The speaker should modulate his voice and use different tones while
speaking. It creates interesting atmosphere in the audience and they pay more attention to the
speaker. It creates an environment for effective listening.

BENEFITS OF LISTENING

Effective listening at all level is very important for the successful running of an organization.
Good listening skills make workers more productive.
The ability to listen carefully will allow you to:
 Better understand assignments and what is expected of you.
 Build rapport with co-workers, bosses, and clients.
 Show support.
 Work better in a team-based environment.
 Resolve problems with customers, co-workers, and bosses.
 Answer questions; and find underlying meanings in what others say.
 Effective listening helps in controlling rumours which helps in preventing damage to
the reputation of the organization.
 Effective listening will improve the working condition and nurture harmony and unity
among the workers and colleagues.