Listening Effectively

Natalie Bryant, DirectorPractice Development

How many of your waking hours are

spent communicating with others?

70% - 80%

Ways to Communicate:

ReadingWriting

SpeakingListening

Listening

•Listening is the most frequently used communication skill – 45%

•60% of worker errors due to poor listening

•Can only listen EFFECTIVELY to one stimuli at a time

Overview

• Terminology•Why We Listen• Obstacles to Listening• How to Improve Listening• Payoffs of Good Listening

Terminology

• Hearing - the physical reception of sound waves to the eardrum.• Listening - the interpretation of what

the ears perceiveHearing/InterpretationEvaluation/Response

Which is……….• Active• Intermittent• Learned• Continuous• Natural• Passive

Why do YOU

Listen???

Why Listen?

PleasureInformation

UnderstandingEvaluation

Signs of Poor Listening

What keeps us from Listening?

•Environmental Noise•Semantic Noise•Physiological Noise•Psychological Noise

How can we improve?

Activity

Improving Listening

• Take care of YOURSELF! Sleep/Eat/Exercise properly• Establish buddy system – take breaks!• Leave, change, or block out environmental noise• Focus on verbal, vocal & nonverbal codes of the

speaker• Keep eye contact• Take notes to stay engaged

Improving Listening

• Leave problems at home• Remain open minded – curious not

defensive – avoid mentally arguing • Allow the speaker to finish before

commenting/asking questions• Listen to all of the message before making a

judgment call• Avoid egocentrism – be a life long learner.

You can never know EVERYTHING!

Improving Listening

• Catch emotional and factual content• Avoid too much, too fast, during short period

of time – PRIORITIZE• Avoid being apathetic – find a reason to care• Work SMARTER, not HARDER!• Stop Talking• Repeat what the speaker says to you –

“What I’m hearing is …..?”

Importance of Listening•Vital to Clinics• Listening effectively to patients,

employees, coworkers, and supervisors• Improves quality of work/Increases

productivity/Decreases mistakes• Saves Time/Increases Revenue/Builds

better relationships

Important to Relationships

• The most basic of all human needs is the need to understand and be understood. • The best way to understand people is to

listen to them.• Effective listeners remember that words

have no meaning - people have meaning.

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1Things that make you go HUMMMMMMMMMM