The Three Levels of Listening

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Today, communication is one of man’s most imperative skills, and communication depends happen the sense of hearing. Even when we are communicating by visual means, such as writing or typing, we are still using the language that most of us first learned by hearing before we were even out of the womb. Hearing can be defined as the ability which helps in the perception of sound through atmospheres that are being detected by the ear. This is a biological or physical process. Listening, though it may seem similar to hearing, is however, different in that it entails perceiving and understanding the message that was heard. Listening involves the use of a person’s sense of sight and hearing.
Effective listening, therefore, involves the process by which a person understands, interprets, and analyses the information received through hearing. It is an active process that is learned through time. Effective listening skills are not only useful in understanding verbal speech, but also enable a person to derive a conclusion from the speaker’s body language. The ability to listen is essential for success in all relationships. Effective listening skills involve a person paying full attention to the speaker, and having the ability to ignore all eternal distractions. Communicating and listening is very important in our daily life. The pie chart below shows the time people spend communicating.

There are three major levels of listening. First of all, level one, the Internal Listening. When a person listens at this level, they are actually listening to the sound of their own inner voice. That’s where their attention is. They may hear the words of the other person, but they are primarily aware of their own opinions, stories, and judgments of their ow...

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...ustrating conditions in our daily life.
In a Nutshell, almost everyone sincerely believes that he or she listens effectively. Consequently, very few people think they need to develop their listening skills. But, in fact, listening effectively is something that very few of us can do. It's not because listening effectively is so difficult. Most of us have just never developed the habits that would make us effective listeners. Research has found that by listening effectively, you will get more information from the people you manage, you will increase others' trust in you, you will reduce conflict, you will better understand how to motivate others, and you will inspire a higher level of commitment in the people you manage.

Works Cited

(: Adler, R., Rosenfeld, L. and Proctor, R. (2001) , 2001)

(Steil, Lyman K., and Richard K. Bommelje. Listening Leaders, 2004)

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