Business Communication

Effective Listening

Objectives
Effective
Types
How

vs ineffective listening

of listening

to become an effective listener

Introduction
According

to
studies, within 24
hours, people are
able to recall only
about one-fourth
of what they
heard

Introduction
WRONG!!!
Listening

is easy
Listening comes naturally
Hearing and listening are the same

Ineffective Listening Habits

Ineffective Listening Habits

1.

Deciding in advance that the subject is

uninteresting
Poor listeners learn what the talk is about
and decide immediately that the subject
is of no interest to them. Instead of
listening they think of something else,
write meaningless things on their notepad
etc.

Ineffective Listening Habits

2.

Focusing on the poor delivery of the

speaker
Poor listeners focus on the appereance
or delivery of the speaker. Inappropriately
dressed speakers, as well as the ones
that punctuates their speech with uh or
er distracts ineffective listener

Ineffective Listening Habits

3.

Becoming overexcited and anxious to

make your own point
Poor listeners want to run ahead of the
conversation. Especially if it is a subject
that they have some knowledge, their
minds race ahead to plan their own
sentences.

Ineffective Listening Habits

4.

Focusing only on facts

Poor listeners listens only for the facts,
but later when they try to remember
them, they often missed the less concrete
but more important concepts and ideas
behind the facts.

Ineffective Listening Habits

5.

A tendency to outline
everything

Poor listeners tend to

outline lectures or
speeches. However if
these talks are not well
organized by the
speaker, when later
reviewed, these notes
provide little insight to
what was said

Ineffective Listening Habits

6.

Pretending to pay attention

Poor listeners are often tired, lazy or
bored. They pretend to listen in an
attentive posture and then mentally drift
away.

Ineffective Listening Habits

7.

Allowing distractions to interfere

Distractions can be a noise that interferes
with ones ability to hear, or a visual done
that attracts ones attention away from
the listener. Poor listeners take a very
passive role and allows distractions to
interfere with the listening process

Ineffective Listening Habits

8.

Avoiding difficult material

Poor listeners do not try to listen to
material that seems difficult for them

Ineffective Listening Habits

9.

Responding emotionally to certain words

or phrases
There are certain terms, phrases and
words that affect people in an emotional
way which makes some individuals block
out the rest of the conversation

Ineffective Listening Habits

10.

Daydreaming because of difference

between speech speed and thought
speed
People speak about 150 words per
minute. Listeners are capable of
processing 500-700 words per minute.
Poor listener often becomes involved in a
daydrean and forgets to tune back in

Effective Listening Habits

Effective Listening Habits

1.

Accepting the challenge to get

something of worth out of every
situation
Good listeners may find the subject
boring, but they accept the challenge and
make the most of the situation by
focusing on the speakers message, and
try to derive something from the
encounter

Effective Listening Habits

2.

Focus on what is being said rather than

how it is being said
Effective listeners simply ignore a
speakers poor delivery or annoying
mannerisms and focus on what is being
said

Effective Listening Habits

3.

Waiting for the entire presentation before

beginning evaluation
Effective listeners do not jump to
conclusions about what is being said,
instead wait for the presentation to
conclude before beginning their overall
evaluation

Effective Listening Habits

4.

Focusing exclusively on the main ideas

Good listeners look for the main ideas.
Once the overall ideas of the talk are
understood, the facts can be
remembered as logical components

Effective Listening Habits

5.

Limiting their notetaking

Good listeners sit back and listen before
picking up a pencil.

Effective Listening Habits

6.

Listening actively
Listening requires energy and attention.
The good listener not only hears
effectively but also observes the
nonverbal signs of the speaker

Effective Listening Habits

7.

Avoiding distractions or at least

controlling them
Effective listeners try to control their
environment by screening out
distractions.

Effective Listening Habits

8.

Listening to challenging material

The good listener occasionally seeks out
the difficult subjects to challenge his/her
listening skills

Effective Listening Habits

9.

Filtering out emotion-laden words to

challenging material
Effective listeners examine those words
and phrases that have an emotional
effect on them, and being aware of this
problem helps them to overcome the
listening barrier

Effective Listening Habits

10.

Spending extra time on thoughts related

to the material being heard
Effective listeners spend their extra
thoughts on materials related to the talk
to fill in the extra time between speech
speed and thought speed.

Types of Listening
Appreciative
Discriminative
Comprehensive
Critical
Active

Types of Listening
Appreciative:

An individualized form of
listening that obtain enjoyment through
the words or experiences of others; like
listening to ones favourite music or
watching tv...

Types of Listening
Discriminative:

Happens when people

try to distinguish one sound from
everything else; like stopping work to
hear if the phone is ringing

Types of Listening
Comprehensive:

Happens when people

listen for understanding. Involves trying
hard to remember what the person is
saying and to interpret the meaning as
precisely as possible.

Types of Listening
Critical:

Help the listener sift through

what he/she has heard and make a
decission

Types of Listening
Active:

Also called empathic listening,

involves more than just paying attention
or listening carefully. It also entails
empathic and supportive behaviours
that tell the speaker I understand.
Please go on

Listening Response Modes

Directing

/ Judgemental
Advising / Solving
Interpreting
Supportive
Questioning
Empathic / active

Responding Skills

Directing / Judgemental
say what is right or wrong, good or bad, passes
judgment

Ex. That was stupid! Thats right!

Advising/solving shares advice/offers a solution

Ex. If I were you I would Why dont you

Responding Skills

Interpreting
Analyze, explain or teach the sender about the cause
Ex. She probably did this because

Supportive
Reassure, pacify or comfort
Ex. If there is any way I can help

Responding Skills

Questioning
Probes, clarifies, inquires or seeks more info
Ex. What makes you think that? Where were you?
Open questions require more than a yes or no
answer
Closed questions can be answered with yes or no

Using Response Styles

80%

of your feedback will use 1 of 5 styles

Directing

/ Judgemental
Doesnt help unless sender asks for advice

Interpreting

Works best when your intention is to offer

insight into the problems causes

Using Response Styles

Supporting
Works best when the sender has determined the problem
and needs encouragement

Questioning
When your need for additional info is genuine

Paraphrasing
This reveals a desire to understand the senders thoughts
and feelings

Becoming an active listener

Listen

for total meaning

Respond to feelings
Note all cues
Take time to listen
Be attentive

Becoming an active listener

Employ

only three kinds of verbal

reactions:encouraging sounds such as uhhuh; restating what has been said; and
silence with a nod of head
Avoid probing for additional facts
Always give positive feedback