Essay on listening skills
Answers
Explanation:
The art of listening when practiced properly, leads to the improvement of a person’s ability to communicate effectively in everyday life. Firstly we must explore the concepts of human communication and what role listening plays in it. There are also different levels and modes of listening that can be applied in different situations. Listening also plays an important part in allowing an individual to perform tasks in a business environment. Not only is proper listening important for the listener but it is an integral part of the “aizuchi” process (enhances the speaker’s role in communication). Also, understanding and overcoming the barriers to listening is essential in facilitating highly effective communication skills.
What is human communication and where does listening fit into this process? Human communication can be defined as “The process by which meanings are exchanged between people through the use of a common set of symbols (i.e. usually language).” (Adair, 2003). This is precisely what takes place when humans decide to communicate with one another. In an effort to relay information, exchange ideas or thoughts, voice an opinion or even to fulfill a need, the sender initiates communication by encoding a message and sending it via a channel to the receiver. However, for the sender to be successful in transmitting the message, the receiver must be listening. The receiver may have heard the message but did not necessarily listen to it. Hearing is the aural reception of the words and sounds we have heard. Listening however, requires concentration so one can process and give meaning to what has been heard. Listening allows the receiver to understand and interpret the message that has been received.
Listening is also a tool that helps us to tailor our approach when communicating with others on different levels and gives us the ability to either present or receive response. Everyone’s level of listening is different given variables such as time, place, feelings, beliefs etc. The appropriate level of listening and the amount of importance assigned to the interaction can also are determined by the purpose of the communication and the relationship with the other person. For example, a stranger can ask us the time and get a response, or we can listen to a spouse’s problem and try to offer a solution. In the above settings, one would use a higher level of listening when communicating with one’s spouse than the level used when giving a reply to a casual question.
In human communication, there are three basic modes of listening. Firstly, there is competitive listening. This is used when we pretend to listen to someone else’s point of view but believe that ours is better. We listen hoping to find areas to attack and looking for opportunities to present our beliefs to the speaker. An example of this is during political debates when candidates only pretend to listen to their opponent while planning their rebuttal. The second mode of listening is called attentive listening. This is when we concentrate on what the speaker is saying and show genuine interest in the topic. We assume that we have understood what was said but we do not verify the information we are given. The final mode of listening used is perhaps the most important and useful one. This is known as active or reflective listening. Active listening is distinguished from other modes of listening because of the feedback process that is involved. Active listening is practiced when the audience is able to genuinely grasp what the speaker is saying and checks their interpretation and understanding via the process of feedback. The audience does not merely listen but also verifies what they have understood by paraphrasing the information, mirroring what the speaker has said or by asking for clarification on the subject. These actions demonstrate to the speaker that the audience has made a genuine effort to listen to his message and understand it. Therefore, active listening is believed to be effective in facilitating successful communication.
Answer:
To listen is to give attention to sound or action.[1] When listening, one is hearing what others are saying, and trying to understand what it means.[2] The act of listening involves complex affective, cognitive, and behavioral processes.[3] Affective processes include the motivation to listen to others; cognitive processes include attending to, understanding, receiving, and interpreting content and relational messages; and behavioral processes include responding to others with verbal and nonverbal feedback.
Listening in conversation.
Listening can be a useful skill for different problems, but it is essential to solve conflict, poor listening can lead to misinterpretations thus causing conflict or a dispute. Other causes can be excessive interruptions, inattention, hearing what you want to hear, mentally composing a response, and having a closed mind.[4]
Listening is also link to our memory, according to a study during a speech some background noises that were heard by the listeners could help listeners recall information by heard it again. For example, when we’re doing something like reading or following steps while hearing music, we can recall what that was by hearing the music again later.[5]