Listening Barriers

When I think of listening I relate it to just hearing the message. I do not follow the process of listening that was taught in my communication class. Rather than receiving, recalling, rating, and responding, I often hear and skip right to responding. I do believe that because I don’t follow all the steps I forget easily or do not understand things completely, which leads to me either questioning later, or just winging it. I also realized that I have selective listening, because of lack of interest in some conversations I often block out part of the conversation, or lose focus and zone out until the end of the conversation. By then I know little of what was talked about and only respond to what I think is most important to me. Another bad habit I have when it comes to listening is my responding habits, I’m not sure how to respond to most

Ms. Headlee also emphasized the importance of active listening. As defined in our book, “Active listening is mindful, not mindless. It requires focused attention” (Rothwell 151) Being mindful means that you are conscious and aware of what the person is saying. That means that you are listening and ready to respond to what is being said. If you are actively listening you will be able to build onto the conversation by making comments, asking questions, and responding to what they are saying.

To overcome reduce and overcome this barrier the staff working in the health and social care setting or organisation ensure that they provide places where their can communicate with service users without being disrupted by noise. It could also be overcome by making different changes to the environment, for example sound proofing rooms so that conversations can be kept private, fitting electronic devices, such as induction loop systems to help those with hearing difficulties, minimising background noise and making sure they can be seen clearly by the person they are communicating with.

Distractions in an environment can also be a barrier to communication, if trying to speak to a service user in the office for example where there are other staff members having conversations, a radio on and the phone ringing, the noises may distract the service user from receiving the message correctly.

When communicating, speaking is only half of the job, you must also be an amazing listener. There are 10 key listening skills that will always help you become the best listener you can.

By taking time to listen to another person’s feelings, true understanding can be established, making for a better conversation. The lack of listening can be attributed to the feeling of being in control of the conversation while talking. If you are deciding the topics of conversation, you are never disinterested, but what about the other person you are conversing with? It is important to take into account that communication requires balance to continue. Although it is easy to digress about what interests you, it is a challenge to remain interested in another person’s thoughts.

There are several ways to actively listen. Use nonverbal cues such as making eye contact with the speaker. This lets the speaker know that they have your attention. Pay attention to the speaker’s nonverbal cues and respond accordingly. A good listener shows empathy and respect to the speaker. It is important for the speaker to know that they are being listened to and that the listener shows interest in the speaker’s message.

The greatest listeners use all of the listening responses: Prompting, questioning, paraphrasing, supporting, advising, and judging. The correct response depends on a couple different factors, for instance: the situation you are in, who you are talking to and how well you know the person, as well as your own personal style and what you are good at. Switching between responses can be helpful as well you could be supportive and give the person advice. Being there for the person and showing that you care is the best way to show that you are listening and that you care about what the person is

Physical barriers are often due to the nature of the environment. Thus, for example, the natural barrier which exists whilst distractions like background noise, poor lighting or an environment which is too hot or cold can all affect people's morale and concentration, which in turn interfere with effective communication.

Burley-Allen (1995, p. 54) asserts that a listening barrier usually exists when we hear what we want to hear rather than what is really communicated.

By completing the listening assessment, I have discovered that I have a great ability to try to listen carefully to what people are saying. In my mind, I am aware that I have a difficult time processing and understanding what people say. It could be possible I might be experiencing a bit of receiver

Poor listening is the most common barrier to reception. It is simply a lack of attention on the receiver's part. We let our minds wander now and then, regardless of how hard we try to concentrate.

This is one area of my life that I was made aware of over a year ago. I do not listen! I used to listen to respond, which was an unhealthy way to communicate. In listening to respond we are putting a higher value to our thoughts then that of the speaker. As discussed in our text some of warnings that one may not be a good listener is having the speaker repeat information already given, criticizing the speakers form of giving information, breaking the conversation to give your input, either orally or mentally, and giving the speaker the false gratification that you are listening (Hamilton. C. pp. 119, 120). I used to be the breaker in the

Determine the talker's needs during the interaction. At the beginning of a conversation, the talker may be tentative and not say what he or she means. Whether he or she continues often depends on the listener's initial response. Stay neutral and try to listen objectively. Direct, clear communication rarely occurs when information flows one way. Listening blocks are obstacles that interfere with our listening they

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