Reflection On Listening Skills, By Dianne Schilling

Communication isn’t just about talking. There are so many different elements to communicating in society. How a person gestures, the tone in an individual’s voice, an expression on a person’s face, how a person listens is all a part of communicating. As we all know, in order to communicate with one another we must be able to listen. I think in society people think that communication is all about speaking but in reality it is just a little piece to a bigger picture. In today’s society, listening seems to be a skill that is being neglected. Even though it is basically the first communication skill that we are exposed to, we have pushed it aside and chose speaking to dominate our lives. Researchers have discovered that fetuses can process incoming sounds during the last trimester of pregnancy, and that by 12 months children have learned sounds of and rules of their native language(Worthington, 3). This shows that children’s abilities to speak, read, write and reason are influenced highly by how well they are taught to listen. As parents we can all be teachers to our children so that they can grow up to be well-rounded communicators.

Being able to communicate effectively with more people feels good and is empowering. In “Arts of the Contact Zone,” Mary Louise Pratt tells the story of her son and how his literacy of baseball allowed him to, “start a conversation with a stranger and feel sure of holding [his] own” (485). In Richard Rodriguez’s essay, “The Achievement of Desire,” he writes how, “reading made [him] a confident speaker and writer” (527). To be able to communicate well with others and get ideas clearly across to them is a satisfying feeling; likewise, to be able to understand their ideas.

Communication is one of the most important things we learn throughout life. Communication is the ability to transfer

In a society it is essential to have effective communication skills, without those things can be very difficult. When you say communication people tend to generally just think about verbal communication and while speaking and listening is a large portion of what communication is it is a lot deeper than that and some people believe some of the other aspects like body language and facial expressions to be even more important in the maintaining of effective communication skills than forms of verbal communications.

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

A vital aspect of interpersonal communication is the style in which one listens. While every individual possesses their own preferred method of listening in communication, it can be enlightening to analyze our own strengths and weaknesses so as to maximize effectual communication. Within the confines of four main listening style categories, I have chosen those which best describe my own personal listening style.

A good method on how to be a decent listener is learning to have an open and approachable understanding. As you look for openings to widen the awareness when listening, and to obtain fresh thoughts or perceptions, instead of supporting the current ideas or interpretation. The need to listen to others as well as to be heard. It occurred to me that the need to be heard is probably one of the most fundamental needs a individual can have. We need acknowledgement. We need someone to look at us. We need to know that others know we exist. We need to know that not only do others know we exist but that our existence means something. In my overview I gave a short analysis on the significance of listening. I discover that effective listening is vital and essential to communicating in cooperation to desires and demands inside an interactive

Having better communication skills can help us obtain our needs in life, even though it is often hard for us to observe our own communication skills; however, It's important to develop communication skills because without communication, we have nothing. “Interpersonal communication is by far the most used and most important form of communication that we use on a day to day basis” (Trenholm, 2010.) Developing this communication becomes idea because it

To improve my listening skills I personally need to focus on avoiding the thought of I know what is going to happen. I also need to control my thoughts. In the book it states we must identify poor habits such as interrupting and tuning out. Also we must strive for mindful listening. Mindful listening is the desire to get the whole message and eliminating noisy barriers. The last part of mindful listening is to place your agenda lower on the priority list than the

Remaining silent is an essential component of communication based on listening skill. This skill encourage people to participate, giving attention to listen to other people when they talking without interruption (Hybels & Weave 2008). More over, as people they make an ethical agreement to listen to the other, they focused their attention on them without acknowledging competing thoughts (Gamble & Gamble 2013). It is widely recognized that, listening can be defined as paying attention to other people when they talk. In addition, as human beings

"The power of vision is the starting point. Once you have established your goal, you need to develop your communication skills so that you can share your vision with the rest of the world and create something unique," Tips on starting your own winning business. (2011, March 9). This statement is true. I consider my communication skill good to excellent. As the daughter of two school teachers I have an excellent command of the English language and they taught me how to present myself in such a way to adapt to my audience and have a confidence in my words. These traits have allowed me to be successful in a number of various professions, but I find my ability to communicate with

The ability to listen well is an important tool for understanding others. Sadly, very few people know how to listen well. In fact, most people can think of only one or two good listeners in their lives. Listening is not simply agreeing - it is much more. Good listeners are able to better understand and respond to others, complete assignments accurately, settle disagreements before they escalate, and establish rapport with difficult people.

Listening plays an important role in communication as it is said that, of the total time spent on communicating, listening takes up 40-50%; speaking, 25-30%; reading, 11-16%; and writing, about 9% (Mendelsohn, 1994).

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.

Developing better communication skills is more than talking to someone to get a point across. Listening and understanding the key components of the conversation is a part of having communication skills. By listening, issues would be processed better which would help establish a common ground between the people that are having a conversation.