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Adopt simple listening techniques to ensure that you listen effectively
Active Listening: essay
Active Listening: essay
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Active listening is the most important aspect of counseling. It allows the other person to feel comfortable with the therapist, and increases understanding. This can also be a difficult practice to master, because people need to be aware of everything around them. When a person is unable to truly actively listen there can a negative result can occur. This is the reason for many arguments, and could be why counselors are needed. One of the best ways to practice active listening is by listening to family’s opinions.
Opinions are an important part of a person’s thinking process, and shows the difference between individuals. The opinions range from weak willed ones that can be changed with discussion, to strong willed opinions that can create
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For instance during the similar conversation we were seated opposite each other, and on the same ground. I used a few techniques to show I was listening. For instance, I paraphrased many of the things that he said during the conversation. I didn’t feel that I needed to voice my opinion because he was stating the same things that I was thinking. I did question him a few times to see the reason behind his opinion, which went into his own background. I also did not lean forward during my discussion with the similar person, and I was more relaxed during the conversation. During the dissimilar conversation I was so focused on not being listened to that I forgot my purpose, which was to listen. In the similar discussion I did not forget my purpose of the assignment. I think that this will help me in future endeavors, because I now recognize that I need to stay humble in order to make sure the discussion is about the other …show more content…
I tried to make sure that I noticed the nonverbal signals I was giving, but I was unable to recognize them until after the discussion. This is because I stopped actively listening during the dissimilar conversation. When I first started the discussion with the dissimilar person I noticed that I was a bit relaxed, but not completely as I was watching him pace. He had tense shoulders, and his face became a bit red as he was voicing his opinion. His pace increased during the discussion, and he stopped when I leaned forward and expressed the opposing viewpoint. When he stopped and moved back his eyes widened, and he appeared defensive as if I were going to verbally attack him. This defensive reaction caused him to stop pacing, and look at me. I realize now that when he looked at me I became defensive, because he was standing over me, and appeared intimidating. This caused my face to
Since I am generally more soft spoken, I have become accustomed to observing the facial expressions, body language, and tone of voice of people throughout various emotions. Usually I am better with these observations with people I have known for a little while, but I can pick up on nonverbal cues from others about how they are feeling generally well. I would rate myself as good for nonverbal communication because I usually do pay attention to details. This skill can be improved by setting a goal of carefully examining the nonverbal cues of a person during communication without distractions from other people or my
Nonverbal communication is rich in meaning. Everyone communicates through nonverbal gestures and motions. I realized that you can decipher a lot from an individual or individuals by just paying close attention to what they do, and that words are not really necessary. Watching two people interacting, I figured that they are really close by their space communication, eye language, and body movements.
Communication in all relationship can be successful when our listener get the message that we want to convey and it is not so much about what we want to say. Listening is a unique process because it involves psychological and voluntary process that goes beyond simply reacting to sounds. It includes understanding, analyzing, evaluating, and responding. As a human, we will use different listening styles, depending on our preferences and purposes. Listening styles refer to the different ways people listen and analyze the content of a conversation. Usually, these styles either have to do with the way listeners choose to receive the message or with how they analyze the message. Listening is very important because we listen in order to establish and communicate power. There are few types of listening that can be used in order to communicate effectively.
In order to determine whether or not my listening style changes in various situations, I decided to perform an assessment of my conversations over the past ten days. The first evaluation I conducted occurred after volunteering at my child’s school, and yielded some rather interesting results. I reflected upon my conversations with the teachers, and settled on my listening style being more content-oriented; while my interaction with the children was almost completely people-oriented. I had predicted that my listening style would be more balanced between all of the age groups involved; however, I could not relay many of the details discussed with the children after my volunteering time ended. I am happy to say that I did retain most of the content of my conversations with the teachers, but had no recollection of an emotional impression with t...
It is very important to listen and pay attention because as a Counselor you do not want to miss out on any important information that can help determine the root of the problem. I also find that being a good listener is one of my strengths as well as being compassionate, open-minded, and sympathetic. I overcame many personal hardships in my life, and because of those hardships I am a stronger person, with a positive outlook on life that can help make a difference in someone. One of my personal characteristics that I feel that I need to improve on is that I become too emotionally involved because I care about those I will work with. I want to be able to do my job without my emotions getting in the way. The best way to do that is to learn strategies and techniques to help me improve. I am willing to learn and work hard to make sure I become a qualified professional for this
The ability to listen effectively significantly impacts all relationships, be it professional, personal or social. The prevailing issue with effective listening, however, is two-fold, in not truly understanding the meaning of listening and not possessing the tools required to be an effective listener. The skill of listening, according to Dr. Robert Bolton (1979), extends beyond simply hearing sound as a physiological sensory process but instead requires and involves interpreting and understanding the sensory experience or what is being heard (p 32). It also is an active experience wherein the listener is fully engaged and has absorbed the information of the speaker while showing interest and providing feedback, all while demonstrating that they have heard and understand the message. It is a fair assertion that most people in varying relationships and environments listen in what is considered passive capacity, or only digest and process bits and pieces of the speaker’s message.
The themes of this novel are calmness and persistence. These two themes are exemplified by one character, Mr. Fogg. Mr. Fogg is always calm in the novel not once in this novel does he show any anxiety or nervousness. Mr. Fogg, under a prolific amount pressure of losing a wager of twenty thousand pounds, remained very tranquil never once to lose his state of mind. The second theme of this story is persistence, shown by Mr. Fogg. Mr. Fogg never gives up on wager of a prolific amount of money, precisely twenty thousand pounds. As the odds turn against him he remains on his path and does not give up. His persistence in the end pays off and Mr. Fogg wins his wager, on who The Reform Club will pay. But did he really achieve a goal by making this unbelievable trip around the world in an astonishing eighty days.
Nonverbal communication affects your how people communicate with you. When using nonverbal communication make eye contact when speaking to the person, this show you are focused on the person and the
When we communicate, we can say a lot without speaking. Our body, our posture, tone of voice and the expression on our face all display a message. If our feelings don’t fit with our words, it is often the body language that gets heard and believed. Nonverbal communication is a rapidly flowing interactive process. Self-awareness and an understanding of the cues you may be sending are paired with the cues others send and pick up from you. To do this effectively, it is necessary to clear your mind of all distractions. Try planning, creating, talking to yourself, thinking about the other person or what to say, then you won't be paying attention to the moment-to-moment experience, have the presence of mind to pick up on nonverbal cues, or fully understand what's really going on in the conversation.
When we communicate, we can say a lot without speaking, through our body, our posture, tone of voice and the expression on our face all display a message. If our feelings don’t fit with our words, it is often the body language that gets heard and believed. Nonverbal communication is a rapidly flowing interactive process. Being aware and understanding the cues you may be sending along with the cues others send and pick up from your body language, may not be showing what you are really trying to communicate to others at that moment.
The characteristics, scenarios and useful tips we’ve explored demonstrates why listening is so vital in our everyday lives. Without effective listening, we are depriving ourselves from being involved in meaningful conversations. Communication is key for any healthy relationship and listening is part of that process.
As we all know the world can throw us some curves and change the course one may expect in their life. Listening to what others are saying is to help them in some way or another. As a counselor my goal is to apply myself as an effective listener because it’s required and if my listening skills are not up to par, then there is no reason to be in that field profession. There was a time when a friend was relying on me to listen to a problem she was having in her marriage, instead of listening my reaction was “you need a marriage counselor” she then became disappointed because my focus wasn’t on what she was saying instead my focus was on what she didn’t say and only then was my response would have been given. This to me was a mental distraction because the focus was on what my reply would have been instead of what she was actually saying to me. Listening mindfully requires us to be completely aware of what is being said and why, it is here we an understanding can be made clear (Hall D. 2017). A person who is sharing openness is most always appreciated and valued over closed mindedness in both face to face communication and online (Joseph A. DeVito 2012). Over the course of my own life there have been many occasions where effective listening was required, academically, emotionally, mentally and on a support level of
To be effective listeners, the listening process should be incorporated into our lives. We should be attentive to what people say, clarify what the speaker is trying to come across, and respond in a way the speaker can understand what we are saying. I think I was aware that I needed some improvement in certain areas of this process but I feel as everything is slowly changing. In the future, I’m going try not to interrupt people, get distracted, tune out, and try to get a bigger picture of what the person is telling me. If good listening habits are applied in our day-to-day life, we can easily communicate with anyone and everyone.
The first concept I used was responsive listening, responsive listening is giving your complete undivided attention, while letting the other person get a chance to speak freely and openly, while the person listening provides only small interjections and nonverbal listening cues while sometimes paraphrasing to show that you have fully been aware. I choose this concept because I felt like sometimes I dominate the conversation with my brother and I decided to just give him complete undivided attention and a chance to talk. I was picking up my brother from school, and from the start he seemed to be...
...tention to how people react to one another’s comments, guessing the relationship between the people and guessing how each feels about what is being said. This can inform individuals to better understand the use of body language when conversing with other people. It is also important to take into account individual differences. Different cultures use different non-verbal gestures. Frequently, when observing these gestures alone the observer can get the wrong impression, for instance, the listener can subconsciously cross their arms. This does not mean that they are bored or annoyed with the speaker; it can be a gesture that they are comfortable with. Viewing gestures as a whole will prevent these misunderstandings. Non-verbal gestures are not only physical, for example; the tone of voice addressing a child will be different from the way it is addressed to an adult.