Session 3 : Listening Skills

This session we discuss listening as a valuable skill in the communication process. We

shall endeavour to show how listening enhances one’s academic performance.
3.1 Difference between Listening and hearing

 Hearing refers to the act of receiving sounds one hears.

 Listening is the act of receiving sound, constructing meaning and responding to

the spoken message. Listening also involves the ability to retain information as
well as react emphatically to the spoken work. Listening requires more than
hearing. It requires focus, paying attention to both the verbal and non-verbal
communication.
Active listening requires that the person is present 100%. The basic and most powerful
way to connect to a person to listen to them.
3.2 Active listening

 Active listening means hearing with proper understanding the message that is
being heard. By asking questions the speaker can ensure whether his/her
message is understood or not by the receiver in the same terms as intended by
the speaker.

 Listening is the ability to accurately receive messages in the communication

process. It is mental and physical attending to comprehending and attaching
meaning of the provided information (message).

 Listening is a process of the sender and the receiver working together to achieve
a common understanding.

 Good listening skills can lead to better customer satisfaction, greater

productivity, with fewer mistakes, increasing sharing of information that in turn
can lead to more creativity and innovative work.
3.3 The listening process
The listening process involves:-

 Receiving stimuli (music, words or sounds) in the ear (hearing);

 Understanding - The ear translates the vibration from oral stimuli into
sensation that is registered by the brain (listening). The brain, using attention
and working memory interprets the sensation and gives it meaning
(interpretation);
 Remembering - The interpreted message is then stored in the short term
memory for immediate use (retaining) or long term memory for future recall
(recalling); Interpreting helps us remember.
 Evaluating – it entails judging the message - analysing, identifying, biases,
distinguishing facts from inferences;
 Responding – it refers to the feedback provided after receiving of a message –
information sent back to the speaker.
3.4 Importance of listening in our lives

 Listening is an essential task for effective communication. Students spend up to

50% of their time listening.

 Listening helps build and maintain relationships. Part of our ability to build and
retain relationships involves our ability to understand and respond
empathetically to messages from others.

 Listening can help us determine whether people we are communicating with are
honest or deceitful.

 Listening is an essential skill for success in academic and business world.

 Listening is directly linked to our ability to remember information.

3.5 Types of listening

 Active listening – it involves listening with a purpose and comprises of:-

 Listening carefully using all available senses

 Paraphrasing what we hear both mentally and verbally

 Checking our understanding to ensure accuracy

 Providing feedback positively or negatively

 Active listening means hearing with proper understanding the message that
is being heard. By asking questions the speaker can ensure whether his/her
message is understood or not by the receiver in the same terms as intended
by the speaker.
 Listening is the ability to accurately receive messages in the communication
process. It is mental and physical attending to comprehending and attaching
meaning of the provided information (message).
 Listening is a process of the sender and the receiver working together to
achieve a common understanding.
 Good listening skills can lead to better customer satisfaction, greater
productivity, with fewer mistakes, increasing sharing of information that in
turn can lead to more creativity and innovative work.

 Empathetic listening – it is a form of listening where we attempt to understand

the other person by perceiving their world view as if it was your own. This kind
is very useful in sustaining relationships, counselling process, resolving disputes
as well as dealing with traumatic situations.

 Critical listening – this is listening that analyses, evaluates, critiques or

challenges a speaker’s message by evaluating its accuracy, meaningfulness and
utility. This goes hand in hand with critical thinking. Critical thinking is very
 useful when we are confronted with persuasive messages such as
advertisements, political communications, or propaganda.

 Listening for enjoyment – this type of listening helps us to relax eg enjoying

listening to music, comedy

 Reflective listening – this refers to attentively listening to the speaker’s actual

words, as well as tone of voice, and observing the body language and emotions
displayed. Reflective listening is particularly an important tool in one-on-one
situations. It is not practical in a speaker-audience situation.

 Passive/ selective listening – this means concentrating at a low level and

absorbing just enough of the speaker’s words to stay involved in a conversation
or speech. One decides how much and when to listen.
3.6 Barriers that hinder active listening
Several causes of poor listening

 Cognitive dissonance – this refers to the presence of 2 or more conflicting

ideas/information. A common way of people reducing this dissonance is
ignoring the information that is causing conflict.
 Anxiety – it causes psychological noise
 The controlling listener – controlling listeners always look for a way to talk
about themselves and their experiences.
 Passive listener – listening without interest is a normal occurrence to some
people. They listening without interest.
 Physical factor - listening is inhabited by noise an unpleasant room temperature,
poor lighting, physical obstacles and uncomfortable seating.
 Cultural differences – communication patterns vary from one culture to another
on a number of important dimensions eg use of minimal prompts, eyes contact.

3.7 Important aspects of the listening process

 Attention – this is the process of the mind focusing on a specific stimuli and
blocking others. Types of attention:
(1) Selective attention – this is sustained focus we give to information that
we deem important.
(2) Automatic attention – this is the instinctive focus we give to stimuli
signalling a change in the surrounding. We give automatic attention to
stimuli that we deem important or which we perceive to signal danger.

 Working memory – this is the part of our consciousness that interprets and
assigns meaning to stimuli we pay attention to. We may use it without
“thinking” about it. It looks for shortcuts when processing information eg
patterns of letters or words in assigning meanings. The working memory works
in conjunction with the long-term memory.

 Short term memory – this acts as a temporary storage place for information.
The information stored in the short term memory is that information we want to
 use immediately but not necessary for the future. The information here is easily
forgotten unless some strategy like rehearsal is used. Unfortunately, most
students rely on the short-term memory for information that deserves to be in
the recalled in the long term.

 Long term memory – this is the permanent storage place for information
including past experiences, language, values, knowledge, images of people,
memories of sights, sounds, smells and even fantasies.
Long term memory is organized in schema which are organizational filing
systems for thoughts held in the long term memory. We access such information
through stimulus cues that constitute words, images, sights, smells or tastes that
serve as triggers which signal the mind to activate information held in the
schema.
If we encounter information for the first time, which is not in the long term
memory, a new schema will be created and this information stored. The long
term memory plays a key role in the listening process because it is instrumental
in recalling stored information and helps in creating meaning between what we
hear and our background knowledge.
3.8 Develop listening skills (tactics for listening)
 Stop talking;
 Prepare yourself to listen;
 Put the speaker at ease – use gestures head nod;
 Remove distractions – avoid unnecessary distractions phones ringing, playing
with your fingers, looking around;
 Empathize;
 Be patient;
 Avoid personal prejudice – be impartial;
 Listen to the tone;
 Listen for ideas not just words – listen to the whole idea;
 Wait and watch for non-verbal communication.

NB. Do not jump to conclusions about what you see and hear. Seek clarification to
ensure you understand.
3.9 Signs that the person is actively listening
 Non verbal signs
◦ Smile
◦ Eye contact
◦ Posture
◦ Mirroring – shows sympathy and empathy
◦ Minimize distractions – looking around, outside
 Verbal signs
◦ Positive reinforcement – use positive words of encouraging eg yes, very
good
◦ Remembering – details, ideas and concepts. When clarifying issues by
questioning
 ◦ Questioning – to clarify
◦ Reflection / paraphrasing
◦ Clarification
◦ Summarization

3.10 Effective listening strategies

Effective listening is a life-long skill that is of paramount importance in academic life.
There are various ways of improving listening skills that can make your life in
academic and beyond very fruitful. These include:-

 Listening and thinking critically – this involves analysing the speaker, the
situation and the message in order to make critical judgment about messages
being presented.

 Identifying and understanding barriers to the listening process and

genuinely working towards eliminating them – such barriers may include
noise of various types, which should be eliminated in the listening process.

 Identifying patterns in which we are listening to – understanding the overall

message, its main points and the supporting points is essential in having a
graphical impression of messages and is an important aid in the recall process.

 Applying memory retention skills – such as:- rehearsing and rephrasing what
we listen to. Using mnemonic devices (using a series of letters forming a
meaningful or pronounceable word where each letter stands for a particular
concert, idea or point for easy recall eg acronyms SMART when setting goals.
Strategies to enhance, reinforce and develop your listening skills

 Read to gain background information

 Repeat a person’s name when you are introduced to someone
 Ask questions to clarify information
 Take good notes
 Use a tape recorder when permitted to record a lecture or a meeting.

3.11 Benefits of good listening skills:

 To absorb an instructor’s lectures, explanations and directions for assignments
 Understand what the speaker is saying
 Combined with note-taking, listening skills enable you record information and
review it at a later time – eg during sit in CATs or exams.
 One is able to paraphrase and rephrase what they hear for better understanding.
 One is able to evaluate their listening skills – identify and work on your
listening weaknesses
 Prepares one physically and mentally - One is able to listen attentively.
 One is able to set listening priorities
 Make efficient use of available time – don’t rush though your conversation as
you may lack full understanding of the message
 Use body language to show you are listening – employ non-verbal cues.
 Overlook personal characteristics of the speaker – don’t prejudge on mannerism,
voice, speech patterns or appearance.
 Ask questions – helps clarify information
 Take notes – jot down key ideas or concepts for future referencing.