Effective Listening
Uploaded by zzandman24 on Oct 30, 2011
This essay describes effective listening, barriers to it, and how it can be learned.
I Introduction
Effective listening is a very important communications skill, but one that is not often recognized for being the vital activity it is.
This paper will examine effective listening, and how it contributes to clear communication.
II Discussion
When people speak, presumably it’s because they have something they want to say. In order for them to actually communicate their thoughts, they have to have someone listening to them.
Listening is more than simply hearing words; it is an active effort to be part of the conversation, even though another person is talking. An effective listener is as important as a good speaker, but it takes an effort to perfect this skill.
There are barriers to effective listening that much be recognized and dealt with before one can learn how to listen correctly. First, no two people have exactly the same life experiences, so the meaning the listener infers from the speaker will not be exactly the same thing the speaker meant. (Obviously these are not gross errors in inference but very subtle shades of meaning.) (McLellan, PG).
Second, people often hear only what they want to hear. They “distort information to fit how they would like to see things done.” This includes completely “not hearing” negative information because they don’t want to deal with bad news. (McLellan, PG).
Other reasons for poor listening include the fact that people think much more rapidly than they talk, which means that it’s easy for the listener to let his attention wander to something else while the other person is speaking. In addition, the subject may be too complex for the listener to comprehend, leading again to a loss of attention. Also, because the thought process is so much faster than speaking, the listener may already make assumptions before the other person finishes speaking. Finally, the speaker may have a poor style of delivery that distracts the listener; the listener may not be “in the mood to listen,” or simply not interested in the subject under discussion. (McLellan, PG).
Obviously, then, there are significant issues people have to address in order to become effective listeners. The best technique is to become an “active listener.” (McLellan, PG).
An active listener is one who focuses on what the other person is saying. This...