Effective Listening and Presenting: Essential Skills for a Manager

Overall after completing the Listening Skills Self Assessment, I think that I am a pretty active listener. One of the strategies that I found out after taking the self-assessment, was that I stay open-minded when a speaker is speaking despite what he or she may say that to offend me or about a matter I do not agree upon. Also, I do not isolate the content of the message that is being presented, but I listen to every aspect and detail of what is being said. Two of my weaknesses, were that when the speaker is speaking in a way that is very complex I tend to loose focus. Along with that, when I lose focus and I will not to respond until I can make an assumption of what the information or context they are trying to present is about. In the textbook,

As the speaker continues more information is given. The listener is then able to collect the verbal and non-verbal data to gain a better understanding of what is being communicated (Eunson 2008: 310).

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

Talking and listening are essential life skills. The ability to talk in order to communicate and exchange ideas and information, to negotiate with others, to express feelings and emotions, allows human beings to function well in the world and to be full and active members of society. Communication, to be effective, requires the ability to listen, to understand and to make sense of what is heard. On the personal level, when we listen, we give attention to the other person in such a way as to allow them to feel heard, understood and therefore respected. In that way, listening is more than

Among the all skills listening is different between hearing and listening” (Sunita, Mishra & C.Murali krishna, 2006).

Listening is often confused with hearing. This serious misconception can lead us to believe that good listening is instinctive. In fact, good listening is an active, sophisticated process – a learned behavior – that demands focus and attention. Listening takes place on

People tend to process incoming information quicker than its output by the speaker causing them to quickly jump to conclusions, evaluate, or predict what will be said next. "Most individuals speak at the rate of 175 to 200 words per minute. However, research suggests that we are very capable of listening and processing words at the rate of 6000 to 1,000 words per minute....This unused brain power can be a barrier to effective listening, causing the auditor to miss or misinterpret what others are saying."(Lewis 2003). Listeners are often side tracked when listening, whether it be internal or external distractions. People have a habit of only listening to what they want to hear instead of what is actually being said.

Listening is a vital element of communication and it is very much different from hearing sense of human. A meaningful communication requires both a good listener and a speaker. However, the effect of a listening style may vary depending on the occasions and situations a listener is in. Sometimes, speaker exhibit ineffective style such as defensiveness, ambushing, pseudo-listening, stage hogging and selective listening in their communication tracks.

Listening is more complex, and it encourages one to analyze and think about an idea, rather than to simply accept it (or “hear” it). Hearing is a skill that is beneficial for every aspect of life. As long as we have our ability to hear, we will always perceive different sounds, music, and voices. Listening, however, is beneficial to us in specific instances. It is important for us to attain good listening skills in education, the work force, and in our relationships with others in order to succeed. Good listening in education will bring about confident participation in class discussions; good listening in the workplace will lead to cooperation and good teamwork among colleagues; good listening in relationships is healthy and positive, for it is important to hear what an individual has to say in order to know how they feel.

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.

Many believe listening skills are a necessity to being successful. It’s said that god gave us two ears so we can listen twice as much as we talk, and leaders should follow this saying so they do not miss any important information (Rai).

Before Golen’s study, no studies determined factors of barriers to effective listening, but many studies showed factors or groups of similar listening behaviors. A study of 127 college students, done by Barker, Watson, and Kibler (1984) found that delivery, credibility, speaker’s voice, interestingness, understandability, and clarity were used to determine speaker effectiveness by listeners.

Another powerful skill to achieve is becoming a good listener. For most, we lack at listening effectively. It is easy to daydream or to listen to distractions behind closed doors. Paying close

8 Bad Listening Habits :- Most people are very average listeners who have developed poor listening habits that are hard to said and that act as barriers to listening. For example, some people have the habits of “faking” attention, or trying to look like a listeners, in order to impress the speaker and to assure him that they are paying attention. Others may tend to listen to each and every fact and, as a result, mis out on the main

Better listening leads to better recollection of important info this results in fewer mistakes. Thus, attention to good listening technique is important when complex issues are involved.