LISTENING SKILLS

"We were given two ears but only one mouth,

because listening is twice as hard as talking."

Meaning

Listening Is With The Mind Hearing With The Senses Listening Is Conscious. An Active Process Of Eliciting Information Ideas, Attitudes And Emotions Interpersonal, Oral Exchange

What Effective Listening Is?

Effective listening is actively absorbing the information given to you by a speaker, showing that you are listening and interested, and providing feedback to the speaker so that he or she knows the message was received

Are you a good listener? Think about your relationships with the people in your life---your boss, colleagues, subordinates, best friend, and spouse. If asked, what would they say about how well you listened? Do you often misunderstand assignments or only vaguely remember what people have said to you. If so, you may need to improve your listening skills

Barriers to Active Listening

forming a judgment or evaluation before we understand what is being said

making unjustified inferences about the meaning of what is being said

attributing our own thoughts and ideas to the speaker causing distortion

being inattentive having a closed mind hearing what we wish to hear fear of being changed ourselves excessive talking

How to Be an Effective Listener

What You Think about Listening ?

Understand the complexities of listening Prepare to listen Adjust to the situation Focus on ideas or key points Capitalize on the speed differential

Organize material for learning

How to Be an Effective Listener (cont.)

What You Feel about Listening ?

Want to listen Delay judgment Admit your biases Don’t tune out “dry” subjects Accept responsibility for understanding Encourage others to talk

How to Be an Effective Listener (cont.)

What You Do about Listening ?

Establish eye contact with the speaker Take notes effectively Be a physically involved listener Avoid negative mannerisms Exercise your listening muscles Follow the Golden Rule

Effective Note Making

Note making is essential in college:

For lectures, which are a highly condensed methods of passing on information

For reading, because what you don't write down, you don't remember

Five purposes for note making:

Provides a written record for review Provides a definite, limited learning task Forces you to pay attention Requires organization, and active effort on the

part of the listener Listener must condense and rephrase, which

aids understanding

Sequence

Listen and focus on meaning Evaluate what is being said Is it relevant to your purpose? What are the

high points? Record the information Make use of it