Name: Sakshi Vijay Jadhav

Class: F.Y Bcom (A&F)

Roll no: 478

Subject: Business Communication -1

Project Title: Types of Listening

Introduction
Listening is the most vital part of communication. If there is no listener there is
hardly any point in speaking. Listening is receiver’s ability to listen to the
sender properly and decode the message to have clear understanding of ideas,
thoughts or information, which sender wants to share. If the receivers fail to
understand the message which has been expressed by the sender, they will also
fail in providing a substantial and meaningful response. This wrong feedback is
the root cause of many arguments, misunderstandings, and worries, at personal
or professional life.

Listening is a skill that needs to be practised. Ability to listen is the most

critical skill required in managers and leaders. It provides them with all the
information they need. Listening enables, us to participate effectively in
discussions and other interactions. Unless we listen to the points made or views
expressed by the other participants in a speech, we would not be able to react
rightly and to put forward our views. In nutshell, listening means art of
understanding others; it helps in climbing the ladder of success and is a great
source of wisdom in life.

Types of listening

“Give thy ear to all but your tongue to a few”

- The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (1.3.71)

Definition-

According to Ralph G. Nichols, who is regarded as the father of Listening,

“The most basic of all human needs is to understand and to be understood...The
best way to understand people is to listen to them”. Thus, being listened to, is
one of our most basic needs.

But Listening is not a single term which says that listener clearly understood
what the speaker conveyed i.e. it is not necessary that every time there is same
understanding of the content. The response of the listener depends on the way
listening. There are some listeners who focus too much on people, some on
technical points and some on other aspects of message. Some are so impatient
that they finish your statement instead of giving time to formulate the ideas and
communicate them in their own easy way. Therefore, recognizing the types of
listening is essential, as this understanding will help mould us as listeners and
make us aware which type of listening we should adopt in various instances of
our life.

There may be some particular instance when we have to listen to get

information, another can be while discussing a certain experience, or while
listening to a demonstration from a sales agent. For understanding all these
aspects, we need different approaches of listening.

The major types of listening are discussed below:

Types Of Listineting
Superficial / Marginal Listening
Appreciative Listening
Focused / Selective Listening
Critical / Evaluative Listening
Informational / Attentive Listening
Empathetic / Therapeutic Listening

1. Superficial / Marginal Listening-

In this type of listening the listener has little awareness of the content
what is being said. The output in this type of listening is zero because the
listener tends to ignore the message, and is not able to concentrate on the
theme, main points and supporting details of the message. For example,
a customer service worker repeats a patron’s problem or complaint back
to her to reassure her that she has been heard.
2. Appreciative Listening –
Appreciative listening is a way of listening in which someone actively
goes in search of certain auditory information that this person personally
appreciates or likes. Someone may also practice appreciative listening if
it contributes to achieving a goal or meeting a need. In other words,
people also engage in Appreciative Listening for the joy of it. Although it
doesn’t demand a lot of focus, a person can become temporarily
absorbed in the moment of listening.
In this respect, it is a lot like listening to sounds from the social
environment, for example hearing the stories of a grandmother while in
the football stands. The big difference between appreciative listening and
only hearing and nodding is that with social listening visions, ideas and
 reactions are formed based on the person. In Appreciative Listening it is
purely about the listener’s reaction, not about the source of the sound.
For example, one uses appreciative listening when listening to good
music, meditation seminars, poetry, audiobooks or a speech from a
person with an excellent reputation.
3. Focused / Selective Listening-
This is the way where the listening is done partially. People listen to that
part of communication which they really want to listen. They listen
primarily for those things with which they agree or feel are important
while filtering out those points which don’t echo. The mind of the listener
is wandering and is not attentive to the message. Selective listening takes
place when receiver is not in a position to concentrate or some other
reason which hinders in proper listening.
For example, when you visit a foreign country, you can find yourself
surrounded by people who speak a language you don’t understand. Your
selective listening will then kick in. You’ll instinctively tune out a lot of
the noises around you because you can’t understand them. They are
irrelevant to you.
4. Critical / Evaluative Listening-
When a listener requires specific information from the entire speech or
an external speaker is invited to share the message, one has to critically
analyse the content in order to make best use of it. Therefore, the task is
to actively scrutinize the reliability, clarity and accuracy of that
particular information only.
For example, when a sales person describes about his company’s
product and only discusses its benefits, or might deliver positive feelings
of that product and at the same time try to associate negative feelings
with what the competitor has to offer. At this point the listener should be
cautious and need not to take decisions on the basis of immediate
feelings, but rather take time before concluding or before taking any
actions. One needs to analyse and evaluate the message in order to
determine whether to accept or reject it.
5. Informational / Attentive Listening-
It means, being fully aware of speakers; what they are saying; how they
are saying it, i.e. the tone, pitch of voice, what they are doing, i.e.
gestures, movements, postures, etc., and receiving and interpreting the
message they are sending (Bentley, 1993). Attentive listeners have
 relational goals like giving a positive impression, advancing the
relationship, or demonstrating care. it is difficult and very tiring to
maintain a state of attentive listening.
For example, a new youth in your program has been isolated from the
group. She has made tentative advances toward being included but has
given up each time the group responds negatively. “You looked unhappy
when nobody agreed with your idea.”
6. Empathetic / Therapeutic Listening-
Empathy means to ‘put your foot in another’s shoe’, i.e. to keep yourself
at other persons place to understand and realize the feeling of the
speaker. Raman & Singh (2006) said, “empathic listener is able to go
into the world of another- to see as others sees, hear as other hears, and
feel as the other feels”. The purpose is to give a patient listening to a
friend or an acquaintance and allow him to talk through a problem. It
involves comprehending what kind of mental state the speaker is at the
time of conversation. There may be some personal issues, or overloading
at workplace or something else, an empathetic listener will analyse the
situation and respond accordingly. Brownell (1990) have considered it to
be an antecedent, in that empathetic people tend to be good listeners.

Summary
Listening is one of those soft skills which are essential in our day to day
life; it may be with family, friends, colleague or boss. A proper listening
is important for understanding a message in a right way.
Six major types of listening are discussed here i.e., superficial / marginal
listening, appreciative listening, focused / selective listening, critical /
evaluative listening, informational / attentive listening, empathetic /
therapeutic listening.
Of these the most important is therapeutic listening as it requires active
and empathetic listening skills with greater self-control and discipline.
Sometimes we just listen partially to a message, like selecting something
which interests us, or being passive where no interaction takes place.
Therefore, many times we are not able to work efficiently because of the
half knowledge through partial listening. Thus it is required to have not
only analytical but full body listening i.e., to understand and comprehend
the message with full feelings and actions.
 Listening as a skill can be practised and improved. A better listening will
help us to be a better friend, relative, employee, employer, subordinate
and in all a better human being.

Thank you!