Listening

Nature of Listening
I.

What is Listening?
Listening : the process of receiving, constructing meaning from, and
responding to spoken and/or nonverbal messages; to hear something with
thoughtful attention
When you have ears, you can hear everything within hearing range; but that
doesnt necessarily mean you understand what you heard. Listening, on the
other hand, is a skill.

Listening V/S Hearing

Hearing- physical process; natural; passive

Listening- physical & mental process; active; learned process; a skill

Facts:

II.

85% of what we know is from listening

45%of our time is spent on listening
A person recalls 50%of what they just heard
OInly 20%of it is remembered long term

Process of listening
Receiving
It refers to the response caused by sound waves stimulating the sensory
receptors of the ear; it is physical response.
Understanding
It is the stage at which you learn what the speaker means-the thoughts and
emotional tone.
Remembering
It is important listening process because it means that an individual has not
only received and interpreted a message but has also added it to the mind's
storage bank.
But just as our attention is selective, so too is our memory- what is
remembered may be quite different from what was originally seen or heard.
Evaluating
Consists of judging the messages in some way. At times, you may try to
evaluate the speakers underlying intentions or motives.
Often this evaluation process goes on without much conscious awareness.

Responding
This stage requires that the receiver complete the process through verbal
and/or nonverbal feedback; because the speaker has no other way to
determine if a message has been received .
This stage becomes the only overt means by which the sender may
determine the degree of success in transmitting the message.

Types of Listening
The two main types of listening - the foundations of all listening sub-types
are:

Discriminative Listening
This is the most basic form of listening and does not involve the
understanding of the meaning of words or phrases but merely the different
sounds that are produced.
Comprehensive Listening
Involves understanding the message or messages that are being
communicated.
Informational Listening
Whenever you listen to learn something, you are engaged in informational
listening.
Critical Listening
The goal is to evaluate or scrutinise what is being said
Therapeutic or Empathic Listening
Empathic listening involves attempting to understand the feelings and
emotions of the speaker
Appreciative Listening
Listening for enjoyment
Rapport Listening
When trying to build rapport with others we can engage in a type of listening
that encourages the other person to trust and like us. This type of listening is
common in situations of negotiation.
Selective Listening
This is a more negative type of listening, it implies that the listener is
somehow biased to what they are hearing. Bias can be based on
preconceived ideas or emotionally difficult communications.

Seven Types of Listeners

1.

The "Preoccupieds" These people come across as rushed and are

constantly looking around or doing something else. Also known as
multitaskers, these people cannot sit still and listen.

2.

The "Out-to-Lunchers" These people are physically there for you,

but mentally, they are not. You can tell this by the blank look on
their faces. They are either daydreaming or thinking about
something else entirely.

3.

The "Interrupters" These people are ready to chime in at any

given time. They are perched and ready for a break to complete
your sentence for you. They are not listening to you. They are
focused on trying to guess what you will say and what they want to
say.

4.

The "Whatevers" These people remain aloof and show little

emotion when listening. They do not seem to care about anything
you have to say.

5.

The "Combatives" These people are armed and ready for war.
They enjoy disagreeing and blaming others.

6.

The "Analysts" These people are constantly in the role of

counselor or therapist, and they are ready to provide you with
unsolicited answers. They think they are great listeners and love to
help. They are constantly in an analyze-what-you-are-saying-andfix-it mode.

7.

The "Engagers" These are the consciously aware listeners. They

listen with their eyes, ears, and hearts and try to put themselves in
the speaker's shoes. This is listening at the highest level. Their
listening skills encourage you to continue talking and give you the
opportunity to discover your own solutions and let your ideas
unfold.

BARRIERS TO EFFECTIVE LISTENING AND HABITS OF INEFFECTIVE

LISTENING
I.

Barriers to effective listening

A. Environmental barriers these barriers refer to those factors brought

about by the surroundings
B. Linguistic barriers these focus more on the deliberation of the
speaker, -- the manner of his speaking, the choice of his words and the
rate of his speech.
C. Psychological barriers these are on the side of the listeners. These
are how their minds and their emotions cope up with the things the
speaker is talking about.
1. Perceptual thinking these are minor breakdown bits from the
psychological barriers. These focus on how the listeners perceived
the message/s from the speaker.
D. Physiological barriers these are affected by a persons physical or
health state.
E. Content barriers these are the topic or the thing itself that the
speaker is speaking about that confuse the listeners
II.

Habits of ineffective listening

A. Personal habits
1. Listening and judging immediately
2. Not responding for clarification
3. Not paying attention to the nonverbal messages and underlying
information
4. Jumping into conclusion
5. Selective listening
6. Letting oneself be preoccupied with other things.

TECHNIQUES IN IMPROVING LISTENING SKILLS

Listen with an open mind

Listen to the entire message without judging or refuting.
Determine the concepts and central ideas of the message
Learn to adapt to the speakers appearance, personality, and delivery
Curb and overcome distractions
Attempt to find a connection to or personal interest in the speakers topic
Remember that listening does not equal agreement
Stop trying to jump in and talk
Show the speaker youre listening
Pay attention to both verbal and non-verbal messages
Listen to silence
Avoid faking attention and pretending to listen
Take time to listen to yourself
Plan to respond in some fashion