Listening Skills –

Active Listening

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 Session objective

– Understand the differences between

hearing and listening
– Identify typical listening barriers
– Learn effective listening

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 Studies show that we spend 80% of our waking
hours communicating, and according to
research, at least 45% of that time is spent
listening. Although listening is a primary
activity, most individuals are inefficient listeners.
Tests have shown that immediately after
listening to a ten-minute oral presentation, the
average listener heard, understood, properly
evaluated, and retained approximately half of
what has said. And within 48 hours that drops
off another 50% to a final 25% level of
effectiveness. In other words, we comprehend
and retain only one-quarter of what was said

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 Why listening is important
Listening is the catalyst that fosters mutual understanding
and provides us with the insight into people’s needs and
desires so that we can connect with them.

• Gain Information
• Reduce conflict
• Motivate
Employees
• Maintain
Reputation

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 Hearing vs. Listening

“Was I paying
attention?”

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 Hearing vs. Listening
• Do you think there is a difference between
hearing and listening?
• You are right, there is!
• Hearing is simply the act of perceiving sound
by the ear.
• Listening, however, is something you
consciously choose to do. Listening requires
concentration so that your brain processes
meaning from words and sentences. Listening
leads to learning.

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Listening is composed of six distinct
components :

Hearing: The physiological process of

receiving or other
stimuli.
Attending: The conscious and
unconscious process of focusing
attention on stimuli.
Interpreting: The process of decoding the
symbols or behavior attended to.
Evaluating: The process of deciding the
value of the information to the receiver.
Remembering: The process of placing the
appropriate information into short-term
or long-term storage.
Responding: The process of giving
feedback to the source and/or other
receivers.
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 Most people
tend to be "hard
of listening"
rather than
"hard of
hearing."

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 Types of Listening
• Active vs. Passive

– Attentive Listening
– Pretending Listening
– Selective Listening
– Empathic Listening
– Listening for Mutual Creativity

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 Levels of Listening
• Marginal Listening
• Evaluative Listening
• Projective Listening

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 Barriers to Active
Listening
• Criticise the speaker on delivery.
• Counter
• Listen only for facts
• Filtration
• Assumption
• Withdraw attention, start daydreaming
• Interrupt unnecessarily
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 Qualities of Active Listeners

Desire to be No desire to
“other-directed” protect yourself

Desire to imagine Desire to

the experience of understand,
the other not critique
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 Skills for Active Listening

ATTENDING Examples:
Sitting forward
Eye contact
Explanation:
Nodding head
Providing verbal
and non-verbal
awareness

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 Skills for Active Listening

PARAPHRASING Examples:
So what I hear you
saying is . . .
Explanation:
Restating the
person’s basic
verbal message.

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 Trying It Out

Tell about some success

SPEAKER you’ve had recently.

Practice skills:
LISTENER Attending / Paraphrasing

Make note of active listening

OBSERVER skills being used. Feedback.

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 Skills for Active Listening

REFLECTING Examples:
FEELINGS
You’re feeling ___.
It makes you
Explanation: (feeling) that . . .
Reflecting feelings
that have been
heard or perceived
through cues.

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 Skills for Active Listening
PROBING Examples:
What happened
after that?
Explanation:
Who was there?
Questioning in a
What did they do?
supportive way.
Ask for more info How did that work?
or clarification
Open-ended
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 Trying It Out

What is the biggest challenge

SPEAKER of being an educator?

Practice skills:
LISTENER Paraphrase / Reflecting
Feelings / Probing

Make note of active listening

OBSERVER skills being used. Feedback.

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 Skills for Active Listening

SELF DISCLOSURE Examples:

I had a similar
experience . . .
Explanation: I’ve been through
something like
Sharing relevant
that . . .
personal
information That happened to
me once too . . .
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 Skills for Active Listening

CHECKING Examples:
PERCEPTIONS
It seems to me like
you’re pretty ____.
Explanation: So, you were taking
some risks when
Finding out if
you . . .
interpretations are
accurate.

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 Skills for Active Listening

BEING QUIET Examples:

Count to yourself.

Explanation:
Giving the other
time to think as well
as to talk

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 Skills for Active Listening

SUMMARIZING Examples:
You told off the
teacher and now
you’re scared . . .
Explanation:
You’re feeling on
Bringing together
top of the world
in some way
because you got an
experiences and
A!
feelings.

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 Actual Meaning of Listen should
be
L Look
I Inquire
S Summarise
T Take Notes
E Encourage
N Neutralise

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 Effective listening
• Establish Rapport with the speaker
• Make eye contact
• Upright Posture
• Remove Distractions
• Avoid Arguments
• Ask Questions
• Don’t over talk
• Restate what the speaker
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 • The teacher in an English class likes to have students
do projects together. The present project involves
using the library to find information about space
travel. Juan and Elena are not able to work together
and are arguing with each other. Juan thinks that he
has to do everything and that Elena wastes time by
looking up things not directly related to the
assignment. Elena thinks that by looking up other
things she gets more ideas to make the project
interesting. She also thinks that Juan wants to use
only his own ideas in the project.

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 • J: She’s not doing any of the work. I have to do the
whole report myself.
• M: I see. You feel that you have to do most of the
work because Elena isn’t contributing to the project.
•
J: Right. When we look things up, she wastes time
looking up things that don’t have anything to do with
the assignment.
•
M: So, you want to work efficiently.
•
J: Yeah.

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 • E: But I get lots of ideas for our project by looking at other
things. Juan, you’re so bossy that I never get to say what my
ideas are.
•
M: You feel you don’t have a chance to contribute your ideas
because Juan doesn’t give you time to develop and share them.
•
J: I work different from her.
•
M: I’m beginning to see the problem here. Juan wants to work
quickly and efficiently but not get stuck doing everything. Elena
wants to take more time and have her ideas listened to. Does
that sound right?
•
E & J: Yes.

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