2. Listening
The International Listening Association
(1996) defines listening as the process of
receiving, constructing meaning from, and
responding to spoken and/or nonverbal
messages.
3. “If speaking is silver, then listening is
gold.”
-Turkish Proverb
4. Three Types of Listening
1. Content listening
Involves understanding and retaining
basic information flowing from the
speaker to you. It is important to
minimize note taking and instead to
make a mental outline of the key points.
It is imperative to understand the
message.
5. Three Types of Listening
2.Critical listening
Entails evaluating the logic, strength, and
validity of a message. Refrain from
making judgements about the speaker
and information until the end because it
is difficult to absorb information and
evaluate it at the same time. Also, you
want to assess the speaker’s credibility.
The speaker’s nonverbal signals are
good indicators of uncertainty and
honesty.
6. Three Types of Listening
3. Active listening
Involves interpreting the speaker’s
feelings, needs, and wants.
Avoid judging the other person’s feeling
and try not to give advice – just let the
individual talk. Listen emphatically and
attempt to understand the speaker’s point
of view.
7. To Listen Effectively
Find areas of interest.
Judge content, not delivery.
Hold your fire.
Listen for ideas.
Be flexible.
Work at listening.
Resist distractions.
Exercise your mind.
Keep your mind open.
Capitalize on the fact that thought is faster than
speech
8. The Good Listener
Judges content over delivery errors.
Doesn’t judge until comprehension in complete;
interrupts only to clarify.
Listens for central themes.
Takes fewer notes.
Exhibits active body state.
Fights or avoids distractions; tolerates bad
habits; knows how to concentrate.
Interprets emotional words.
Challenges; anticipates; mentally summarizes;
weighs the evidence; listens between the lines
to tone of voice.
9. Conclusion
Listening is extremely important if
individuals wish to orally communicate
successfully. Although it may seem that the
speaker plays the major role in this type of
communication, the listener is equally
important because if the listener does not
understand the message, the speaker’s
entire purpose is useless. If the listener can
not understand what the speaker is trying to
convey, then clear oral communication is
not occurring.
10. Conclusion
Listening is a part of our everyday lives and
it is a skill we use constantly. Most people
who enter the ‘real world’ should have had
plenty of experience throughout their lives
listening to others and should have
mastered the skill by now. However, this is
not the case. Many individuals still
underestimate how important it is to listen,
and continue to speak unnecessarily.
