Benefits of Effective Listening

You may be familiar with passive listening, passive listening is where an is involved in a conversation however, multitasking by listening to several different conversations or events happening in the background (Bell & Smith, 2010; Jennings, 2012). There has been perhaps a number of times you have slipped into this passive state of attention it seems as if you are actively listening to a conversation but truly, there are other things happening that seem to be more worthy of your attention (Jennings, 2012; Scanlan, 2011).

Active listening is the main key for understanding any kind of communication. Active listening means more than just hearing words. It means understanding what someone else is saying by making eye contact, body language and verbal responses.

In regards to responding to others, Beebe & Mottet (2016) suggest that if a person is serious about listening, they need to be serious about turning off messages that may compete for attention and selection, which are typically the first two stages of the listening process. Furthermore, when an individual commits to listening, they should be become other-oriented instead of self-centered, as listening is about the other person (Beebe & Mottet,

Listening is ‘Not an attempt to understand something that is being said’ but ‘Just an attention to the activity of sounds’

I was guilty of believing that listening and hearing were one in the same. After learning the distinct differences between the two I quickly realized that I was “mindlessly listening” in scenarios which I believed I was mindfully listening. One form of listening that was discussed during a lecture was “filling in the gaps”. I had never heard of this concept, but once it was explained I discovered that I was guilty of practicing this poor listening habit. I seem to fill in the gaps when the person I am communicating with is telling a lengthy story or discussing a topic for a drawn-out period. I tend to zone out for a few second and miss out on key details being discussed. Rather than asking the other person to repeat the information I was unable to retain, I fill in the gaps. I would do this because I did not want my friend or family member to feel as if what they were saying was unimportant. However, filling in the gaps is worse because when I assume the details I missed, I am receiving an incorrect and incomplete message. I have noticed that I fill in the gaps most with one of my friends from high school. He likes to go out and party and have wild nights, which is the exact opposite of myself, and when he tells his stories I find that I am not paying full attention. I assume that all his stories are exaggerated so I tend to overlook many of the small details and fill

James Petersen (2007) uses five parts to describe the talking and listening to help us process a better way of communicating and understanding each other. They are provided to help us connect in our relationships with others. According to Petersen, most of us think we listen well, but we don’t. Not

A broader awareness of the importance of effective listening is another weapon in your arsenal as a public speaker. At the same time, building up your own effective listening skills can enhance your academic, professional, and personal success. Being heard is one thing, but speakers need listeners to complete the communication loop. Reap the rewards: Instead of saying “I hear you,” try out “I’m listening.”

To achieve deep listening, the listener must take on certain responsibilities to help the talker and to ensure that there is agreement about the interpretation and intent of a message. Specifically, the listener must focus on the talker and pay close attention to what is being said. Strive to understand the meaning of the message and respond accordingly. Keep in mind that the response lets the talker know whether or not the message is getting through and allows him or her to adjust the message accordingly.

What is active listening, it the process of information, which uses all of our senses to convey a message through perceiving of sound? Our, hearing, smell, taste and touch are part of our senses that we sometimes use without knowing we are doing it. Moreover, listening correctly, can be a crucial part of encoding and decoding the message, for clarification and understanding what the message is conveying. While deciphering messages, you get a sense of understanding what the message is trying to express. Next, is trying to remember or recall what the message is so that you can retain it. Also, evaluating what you hear and decoded or deciphered it is essential to understanding what the message is. When we actively listen, there is some paraphrasing during this process, where you have to restate the information given by the speaker into your own words. Lastly, responding to the message with an answer, it could be for learning purposes, personal, enjoyment or even employment, it is important to listen to ensure understanding actively. As we respond, there is an answer and feedback given (DeVito 2016) as a response.

Active Listening It is most important to learn how to pay full attention to others as they communicate, and this process involves more than merely listening to the words. It involves absorbing the content, noting gestures and subtle changes in voice or expression, and

Active listening includes a variety of behaviors which communicate to the other that they are heard and understood, that the feelings which underlie the words are appreciated and accepted, and that regardless of what the individual says, thinks or feels, they are accepted as a person by the listener. Active listening demands that the receiver of the message put aside the belief that listening is easy and that it happens naturally and realize that effective listening is hard work. Good listening encourages the speaker, promotes trust and respect, improves relationships, and makes resolution of problems more likely. Good listeners are prepared to listen, show interest, keep an open mind, listen critically, resist distractions,

Listening requires silence. Neutrally speaking, the silent and listening individual is passively learner and an active thinker. Listening comprehension establishes a systematic viewpoint in human mind making it to learn the rhythm of the words, statements, sentences, phrases, thoughts and ideas. It is a requisite to learn about the classification of Stressed and unstressed words.

Active listening is an attentive and interactive form of listening. One of the primary objectives of active listening is establishing and achieving empathy among all parties engaged in communication together. The words a person uses during communication are important, yet active listening includes listening to a person's words as well as interpreting and intuiting what a person feels and thinks. Active listening is a highly engaging activity. Active listening requires the person doing the listening to have a very keen awareness of all aspects of the communication. Active listening then is a sensory activity that challenges the listener to see, hear, sense, perceive, understand, feel, empathize, and reciprocate.

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.

Listening is more than just hearing. The process of listening involves receiving and constructing meaning, and responding to verbal and/or nonverbal messages. In other words, listening is not always easy and being a good listener is all about developing listening skills. To receive messages appropriately we have to listen actively. Active listening can be broken down into three important skills; first of all you have to reflect the feelings that the person is communicating, secondly reflect the content that they are communicating and finally ask good, meaningful questions.