Communication Skills

1. TRAITS OF A GOOD LISTNER

2. You must understand that while acquiring the skill of active
listening needs much effort, it is not impossible. A few guidelines
are given in the following paragraphs. Some behavior might seem
unnatural and forced but can be inculcated with practice. After
some time it will appear natural. For instance, it is very difficult to
be patient with a speaker when you find him irrational and
illogical. However, you must be tolerant under certain
circumstances. The guidelines suggested will definitely enable you
to develop an attitude of tolerance and understanding.

3.  Being non-evaluative
 Paraphrasing
 Reflecting implications
 Reflecting hidden feelings
 Inviting further contributions
 Responding non-verbally

4. IF you are an active listener your verbal and non-verbal behavior will
suggest to the speaker that he is being properly heard and understood. It
should not, however, indicate what you think about the person. The
purpose is to communicate, over-looking the qualities of the ideas,
attitudes, and values of the speaker, In other words, you as a listener, will
not evaluate the speaker for the ideas and fillings he possesses. Your
behavior conveys the impression that you accept the person without
making any judgement of right or wrong, good or bad, suitable or
unsuitable.

5. If you wish to clarify a point, you can simply paraphrase what the speaker has
said and enquire from the speaker whether you have heard it accurately. Use
phrases like the following once to ensure that you have paraphrased the
information correctly.

6. To reflect this you to go a bit beyond the contents of the speaker
indicating him your appreciation for his ideas and where they are
leading. It may take the speaker to the further extension of ideas.
The listener’s aim here is to reflect eagerness and zest by nodding
or through verbal means thereby giving positive feedback. If you
use this technique to change the direction of the speaker’s
thinking, by showing your cleverness is suggesting ideas which the
speaker had not thought before, it creates distrust between the two
parties. However, if you use the technique with the genuine
intention of understanding more, you can cerntainly help the
speaker by boosting his confidence making him believe that the
listener has his content well.