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    Listening

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    1) Listening is the most important communication skill, as we spend 45% of our waking time listening compared to only 9% writing, 16% reading, and 30% talking. 2) Active listening involves basic acknowledgements, attentive silence, asking open-ended questions, paraphrasing to confirm understanding, and mirroring the speaker's feelings. 3) Good listening when receiving feedback includes listening to the full message without prejudging, demonstrating interest through eye contact and posture, focusing on the content rather than distractions, and thinking critically about the key points, assumptions, evidence, and structure of the message.

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    Listening

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    1) Listening is the most important communication skill, as we spend 45% of our waking time listening compared to only 9% writing, 16% reading, and 30% talking. 2) Active listening involves basic acknowledgements, attentive silence, asking open-ended questions, paraphrasing to confirm understanding, and mirroring the speaker's feelings. 3) Good listening when receiving feedback includes listening to the full message without prejudging, demonstrating interest through eye contact and posture, focusing on the content rather than distractions, and thinking critically about the key points, assumptions, evidence, and structure of the message.

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    1) Listening is the most important communication skill, as we spend 45% of our waking time listening compared to only 9% writing, 16% reading, and 30% talking. 2) Active listening involves basic acknowledgements, attentive silence, asking open-ended questions, paraphrasing to confirm understanding, and mirroring the speaker's feelings. 3) Good listening when receiving feedback includes listening to the full message without prejudging, demonstrating interest through eye contact and posture, focusing on the content rather than distractions, and thinking critically about the key points, assumptions, evidence, and structure of the message.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    7 views5 pages

    Listening

    Uploaded by

    d
    1) Listening is the most important communication skill, as we spend 45% of our waking time listening compared to only 9% writing, 16% reading, and 30% talking. 2) Active listening involves basic acknowledgements, attentive silence, asking open-ended questions, paraphrasing to confirm understanding, and mirroring the speaker's feelings. 3) Good listening when receiving feedback includes listening to the full message without prejudging, demonstrating interest through eye contact and posture, focusing on the content rather than distractions, and thinking critically about the key points, assumptions, evidence, and structure of the message.

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    of 5

    Interpersonal Relationships at Work

    Better Communication through LISTENING

    Since we have TWO ears and only ONE mouth listening might be the
    most important communication skill.

    This joke, as all, includes a lot of truth. We spend more time listening
    than doing anything else: a study showed that 70% of our waking time is
    spent in communication, and of that time writing is 9%, reading 16%,
    talking 30% and listening 45%.

    Listening is more than merely hearing with our ears. There is a big

    difference between LISTENING and HEARING


    Interpersonal Relationships at Work

    LISTENING

    Active listening is a way of listening and responding to another person


    that improves mutual understanding.

    There are five levels of active listening:

    1) Basic Acknowledgments
    Basic acknowledgements include verbal, visual - non-verbal signs and
    vocal - sounds that let the speaker know we are listening with interest
    and respect, such as: head-nodding, leaning forward or backward,
    making eye contacts, saying “uh-huh”, “oh really”, “no-kidding”, ‘tell me
    more”, “I hear you”, “So..”, “I see”, “Yes”.

    2) Attentive Silence
    “Silence is Gold, Words are Silver”. To keep silent is difficult, but when
    we succeed, we are able to find out more information from the speaker.
    The majority of listeners are uncomfortable with being silent, but in the
    spare time instead of letting their mind go off the conversation, they
    should: (a) observe the speaker facial expression, posture and gestures
    and try to decode them (b) try to imagine what the speaker is feeling (c)
    decide what is the best answer

    3) Questions
    The idea of asking questions may seem contradictory to the idea of
    listening. But an active listener is asking questions in order to show the
    speaker interest (a) in what is being said (b) in knowing more to gain a
    better understanding of the speaker’s point of view.

    Open-ended questions are preferable to close-ended questions, because


    they are providing opportunities for the speaker to open up, to explore
    his/her thoughts and feelings. It is also important to ask one question at
    a time.
    Interpersonal Relationships at Work

    LISTENING

    There are five levels of active listening (continued):

    4) Paraphrasing
    Paraphrasing focuses on the speaker’s content, summarizing what was
    said in order to clarify and confirm correct understanding. The steps of
    the paraphrasing process are:
    (a) Let the speaker finish what he/she wanted to say.
    (b) Restate with your own words what you think the speaker has said
    (c) If the speaker confirms your understanding continue the
    conversation
    (d) If the speaker indicates you misunderstood ask the speaker to
    repeat. “I am not understanding, could you say it again?”
    There is one caution when using paraphrasing: do not overuse it!

    5) Mirroring feelings
    Mirroring involves reflecting back to the speaker the emotions he/she is
    communicating. Do not miss the emotional dimension of a conversation,
    by focusing exclusively on the content. Encourage speaker to disclose
    feelings – may be joy, sorrow, frustration, anger or grief. The reflection
    of feelings will help the speaker understand own emotions and move
    toward a solution of the problem. In order to understand and mirror
    feelings:
    (a) Observe the feeling words the speaker uses.

    (b) If the speaker may not use feeling words at all - because suppression
    of feelings is so widespread in our culture, focus on the content and ask
    yourself: If I were having that experience, if I were saying and doing
    those things what would I be feeling?

    (c) Observe the body language, facial expressions, the tone of the voice,
    gestures and posture
    Reflecting meanings
    Interpersonal Relationships at Work

    Feedback and Listening

    Getting and giving feedback is one of the most crucial parts of good
    communication. Listening is a key part of getting feedback:

    Listen to the Complete Message. Be patient. This is especially


    important when listening to a topic that provokes strong opinions or
    radically different points-of-view. In these situations, it's important not
    to prejudge the incoming message. Learn not to get too excited about a
    communication until you are certain of the message.

    Work at Listening Skills. Listening is hard work! Good listeners


    demonstrate interest and alertness. They indicate through:
    eye contact, posture and facial expression that the occasion and the
    speaker's efforts are a matter of concern to them. Most good listeners
    provide speakers with clear feedback.

    Judge the Content, Not the Form of the Message. Such things as the
    speaker's mode of dress, quality of voice, delivery mannerisms and
    physical characteristics are often used as excuses for not listening.

    Direct your attention to the message--what is being said--and away from


    the distracting elements.
    Interpersonal Relationships at Work

    Feedback and Listening

    Eliminate Distractions.
    Loud noises, stuffy rooms, overcrowded conditions, uncomfortable
    temperature, bad lighting, etc. Good listeners speak up if the room is
    too warm, too noisy, or too dark.
    There are also internal distractions; if you're distracted, make an effort
    to clear your head. If you can't manage it, arrange to communicate at
    some other time.

    Think Efficiently and Critically.


    Review the material by asking the following kinds of questions:

    • What is being said to support the speaker's point of view?


    (Evidence)
    • What assumptions are being made by the speaker and the listener?
    (Assumptions)
    • How does this information affect me? (Effect)
    • Can this material be organized more efficiently? (Structure)
    • Are there examples that would better illustrate what is being said?
    (Example)
    • What are the main points of the message? (Summary)

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