Listening for Understanding

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Listening for Understanding

Listening is an important form of communication. Unfortunately, many people who do not know how to listen believe they can listen well. They often say "I have been doing this all of my life of course I can listen". Listening is not inherited, or a personality trait, it is a skill that must be worked on and practiced.

Anybody can become a good listener if they are committed to learn how and are willing to work hard. The first mistake that people tend to make when listening is to not make any type of comments while listening. They tend to just stand there and listen while the speaker talks. This can become very frustrating for the speaker and the listener. While the speaker may feel like he isn't being listened to, the listener may find some parts of the speakers talk confusing and hard to follow. Without comments, his concerns and confusion are never addressed. The simplest way to help a speaker along and show that you are listening is with subtle cues such as "hum", and "uh", "huh". While this is not a complicated form of listening it shows the speaker that you are paying attention to them. This is also good to way to show the focus of your attention is on the speaker. These subtle terms can be increased in effectiveness by adding good posture, proper facial expressions and eye contact to show the speaker that you are paying attention. Not only will this make the speaker more at ease, but it gives you a chance, as a listener, to help clarify the conversation such as "You don't say," "what?" etc. These comments can show the listener not only that you are listening but that you might have questions concerning what is being said.

To be a good listener, one must always keep from becoming ...

... middle of paper ...

...listened poorly or misunderstood the speaker than he is given the chance to correct any misunderstandings at that time. One of the most useful times to use paraphrasing is when someone is complaining to you. You always feel better when you feel like you have been truly listened too. It has the effect of calming you down and makes you feel much more important. Even if you are unable to fix the problem completely you feel like someone has tried to help you.

Bibliography:

Works Cited

Adler Ronald B. and Elmhorst, Jeanne Marquardt Communicating at work McGraw- Hill, Companies, Inc, 1999

Anastasi, Thomas E. Listen! Techniques for improving communication skills CBI

Publishing Company, Inc, 1982

Bone Diane The business of Listening Crisp Publications, Inc, Los Altos California, 1988

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