1. IN THE NAME OF ALLAH, THE MOST
BENIFICENT,
THE MOST MERCIFUL
2. َّلَص اَمَك ٍدَّمَحُم ِّلآ ىَلَعَو ٍدَّمَحُم ىَلَع ِّلَص َّمُهَّاللاَرْبِّإ ِّلآ ىَلَعَو َميِّهاَرْبِّإ ىَلَع َتْي،َميِّه
َلَعَو ٍدَّمَحُم ىَلَع َك ِّارَب َّمُهَّالل ،ٌدي ِّجَم ٌديِّمَح َكَّنِّإِّهاَرْبِّإ ىَلَع َتْكَارَب اَمَك ٍدَّمَحُم ِّلآ ىَمي
ٌدي ِّجَم ٌديِّمَح َكَّنِّإ ،َميِّهاَرْبِّإ ِّلآ ىَلَعَو
O Allah, bestow Your favor on Muhammad ()ﷺ and on the family of Muhammad
()ﷺ as You have bestowed Your favor on Ibrahim (alayhi s-salām)and on the family
of Ibrahim (alayhi s-salām). You are Praiseworthy, Most Glorious.
O Allah, bless Muhammad ()ﷺ and the family of Muhammad ()ﷺ as You have
blessed Ibrahim (alayhi s-salām) and the family of Ibrahim (alayhi s-salām). You
are Praiseworthy, the Most Glorious.
3.
4. EFFECTIVE LISTENING SKILLS
Outline:
1. How to define “listening?”
2. Difference between hearing & listening
3. Main steps of listening
4. Barriers to Effective Listening
5. Listening strategies
6. Styles of listening
5. How to define “listening?”
Listening is the ability to accurately receive and
interpret messages during the process of
communication.
7. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HEARING AND
LISTENING
HEARING LISTENING
1. Hearing is the act of perceiving
sound through our ears
Listening is the act of hearing a
sound and understanding what
we hear
2. Hearing is one of the five senses
and is a continuous process
Listening requires
concentration so that our brain
may process meaning from words
and sentences
3. Hearing does not lead to
learning as it does not need
concentration
Listening leads to learning.
8. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HEARING AND
LISTENING
4. Hearing is an involuntary act Listening is a voluntary act
5. Hearing is a physiological
process
Listening is a psychological
process
9. Importance of Listening in Human Life
1. Listening is the first means of acquiring
information
2. It helps in framing plans and policies
3. It helps in sharing information
4. It helps in solving problems and decision-making
5. It helps in developing better relations
10. Main Steps of Listening
Listening involves the following inter-related steps in
sequential order:
1. Receiving
2. Paying Attention
3. Interpreting
4. Remembering
5. Evaluating
6. Responding
11. Main Steps of Listening
1. Receiving:
This is a kind of physiological process. The sounds
are received by the listener’s ears; on the basis of
the sounds received, he can pay attention to the
message.
2. Attending:
The listener has to focus his attention on the
message, to the exclusion of all other sounds that
may be present in the immediate surroundings.
12. 3. Interpreting:
The sounds have to be interpreted, that is, the
listener tries to understand the message.
4. Remembering:
This involves storing the message for future
reference.
5. Evaluating:
The listener makes a critical analysis of the
information received.
14. Barriers to Effective Listening:
1. Distractions
a. Semantic –
Sometimes, the listener is unable to understand the
meaning of the content of information.
b. Physical –
This occurs when there are physical distractions in the
stimulus, for example: when microphones stop working; or
when there is noise in the surroundings.
c. Mental –
This occurs when the listener makes himself the central
character of his daydreams (i.e. is inattentive) and forgets
the speaker.
15. 2. Faking attention or pretending to listen –
This usually happens when the message consists of a
difficult or uninteresting content. The listener hence
pretends to listen to the speaker.
3. Defensive listening – This kind of listening takes
place when the speaker’s views challenge the listener’s
beliefs.
4. Prejudice – The listener’s bias and negative attitude,
adversely affect the process of listening.
5. Constant focus on the self - A person’s ego may also
adversely affect his listening. A person may believe that he
knows everything the speaker is talking about and,
therefore, does not need to listen.
16. 6. Information overload –
The listener may be exposed to too many topics/
arguments and hence unable to take in everything. He
should therefore learn how to pick up the important
arguments, and discard the rest.
7. Short attention span –
The natural attention span for human beings is short. A
listener is therefore required to concentrate on the
content of information so as to seek a careful listening.
17. Listening strategies:
1. Preparation for listening –
The environment must be made favorable so as
to seek a better listening. Noise and disturbance
can be kept out by closing doors, or using a
soundproof room. Suitable arrangements for
microphones and stationery should be made in
advance. Interruptions must be prevented. By
these means, the physical barriers can be
eliminated, and the listener can focus his
attention on the speaker.
18. 2. Background knowledge –
The listener should train himself/ herself to listen
intelligently, bearing in mind the speaker, the topic
and the situation.
3. Re-organize the material in mind –
The listener should be able to recognize patterns
used by the speaker, and should be able to identify
the main / central point, and supporting points;
he/she should re-organize the material in his/her
mind according to certain headings so as to
facilitate recall.
19. 4. Focusing on the speaker’s matter than manner –
The listener should not be prejudiced by the
personal or behavioural traits of the speaker or his
style, but should focus on the content, intent, and
arguments of the message.
5. Listening actively –
Listening actively also involves being considerate to
the speaker and empathizing with him/her through
his/ her verbal and non verbal responses.
20. 6. Adopting an alert listening pose
By adopting an alert listening pose, the listener
puts the speaker at his ease and places him in a
better position to formulate and express his ideas.
The listener should have a positive attitude
towards a talk, believing that in every talk there is
always at least one point or idea that will be of
value and special significance to him.
21. 7. Etiquettes of Interaction –
a. Do not interrupt.
b. Allow the speaker to finish what he is saying
before you begin to talk.
c. Do not disturb the speaker by indulging in some
undesirable form of activity, like talking to the
person next to you, looking at your watch or
mobile , walking out, or appearing uninterested
or distracted.
d. Do not contradict the speaker; adopt an open-
minded attitude.
e. Do not get restless or impatient.
22. Styles of listening:
1. Empathic listening – In this case we empathize
with the speaker, and understand things from
his point of view, allowing him the freedom to
express his emotions.
2. Informational listening – Here, the aim is to
receive information. So the listener pays
attention to the content, and makes decisions
regarding the taking of notes; he/she also
watches for related non-verbal cues, asks
questions, and focuses on the replies. All this
helps speaker gather the information effectively.
23. 3. Evaluative listening –
We are exposed to a great deal of material intended
to persuade us to accept the speaker‘s point of
view; we hence need to evaluate what we hear.
4. Appreciative listening –
We use this form of listening when we listen to our
favourite music or watch an enjoyable television
programme. In these instances, careful listening
greatly enhances pleasure and appreciation.
24. 5. Critical listening –
While following this style of listening, we
listen critically and analytically, carefully
considering the topic of the argument, the
intention of the speaker, his omissions, his
points of view, body language, his credibility
and so on.
25. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Baker, A. (2007). Improve your Communication Skills.
Kogan Page: London.
Demlamain & Spring. Developing Baseline
Communication Skills. Winslow: UK.
Mandel, S. (20000. Effective Presentation Skills. Boston:
Course Technology.
Priya & Bisen, V. (2009). Business Communication. New
Delhi: New Age International.
Ellis, Richard.(2002).Communication Skills. Stepladders to
Success for the Professional: UK: Intellect Books
