Contents

Introduction....................................................................................................................... 2
Objectives ......................................................................................................................... 2
General Objective ............................................................................................................. 2
Specific Objectives ........................................................................................................... 2
Listening ........................................................................................................................... 3
Types of Listening ............................................................................................................ 3
Importance of Listening Skills in Communication........................................................... 5
Techniques to improve Listening Skills ........................................................................... 7
Benefits of Listening......................................................................................................... 8
Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 9
References....................................................................................................................... 10
Introduction

A good listener is someone who listens to the speaker to receive and interpret messages
accurately. No one likes to communicate with a person who cares only about what they
have to say. That’s why, to become a good communicator, you need to be a good
listener too. Listening is one of the essential soft skills. It indicates a person’s ability to
receive and interpret information in the communication process. Without active
listening skills, you won’t be able to receive and interpret the message. As a result, the
communication process will break down, and the speaker can quickly become irritated.

Moreover, listening skills rank among the most critical soft skills to incorporate while
crafting your resume. Effective communication is an absolute cornerstone in the
professional realm, and active listening serves as its bedrock. By showcasing your
expertise in active listening, you underscore your dedication to fostering transparent,
cooperative, and influential communication and present yourself as an invaluable asset
to any team or organization.

Objectives

General Objective
 To know the importance of listening skills;

Specific Objectives
 To define listening skills;
 To identify the importance of mastering listening skills;
 To mention ways of improving the listening skills;

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Listening
According to Chen (2005), Listening is a process of receiving, interpreting and reacting
to a message from the speaker. No communication process is complete without
listening. Listening is an important skill. Listening is quite similar to reading as it
involves reception and decoding of the verbal message from the other person. The
following example illustrates importance of listening. Listening is a purposeful and
focused activity. It requires attention and concentration from the listener. It is a
conscious and voluntary activity. The process of true listening starts with receiving and
ends with an appropriate response.

Hasan (2000), Listening is the first of the four skills in communication that initiatives
the path for the other three skills viz, speaking, reading and writing. Someone rightly
said, “Hearing is through ears, but listening is through the mind.” The two activities
hearing and listening involve the use of ears, but they are different.

Types of Listening
1. Active listening/Comprehensive Listening.

2. Sensitive/Empathetic Listening.

3. Critical Listening.

4. Appreciative Listening.

Active/ Comprehensive listening:

i. This is the best and most important type of listening. The listener undergoes all the
steps of the listening process. This is also called Comprehensive Listening.

ii. The listener not only understands everything but also attempts to verify all that she/
he has been listening to.

iii. The queries and clarifications on the part of the listener in the form of feedback keep
the communication process going.

iv. The goal is to evaluate the message at all levels: the logic of the argument, strength
of evidence, validity of the conclusions, the implications of the message to the listener
and his / her organization and the Speaker’s intentions and motives.

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v. However, the speaker too has a responsibility in facilitating active listening! The
speaker has to convey his / her message in such a way that the listener does not get
bored or is distracted.

Sensitive/Empathic listening:

i. Sensitive listening is also referred to as empathic listening as the listener puts

himself/herself in the position of the speaker and tries to understand the viewpoint of
the speaker as intended by him/ her.

ii. The listener attempts to decipher the meaning of the statements made by the speaker
in relation to the perceptions and experiences of the speaker.

iii. Empathic listening helps to build healthy human relations. Counselors and
psychologists adopt this type of listening.

iv. Though sensitive listening is a desirable type of listening, the only disadvantage we
encounter is the ’one-sided sympathetic stand’ Which can lead to misinterpretation of
the message due to misplaced empathy.

v. However, sensitive listening taken in combination with active listening, where the
viewpoints/ frames of reference of the speaker and listener match, can prove to be an
excellent and effective form of listening.

Critical Listening: (Listening to Evaluate and Analyses)

i. Critical listening is a highly active type of listening. It is used when great focus is
needed to solve a problem, to decide, to evaluate what is being said or scrutinize a work.

ii. Critical listening is similar to critical reading. In critical listening, receiving

information is not the Objective. It involves analyzing the information based on
previous knowledge in order to pass judgment.

iii. In critical listening, the listener asks himself questions like 'what is the speaker
trying to say’ what is the main argument being presented’, is what I am listening
different from what I know/believe’, etc.

iv. It is important in critical listening to have an open mind. A listener with biases,
preconceived ideas, and other stereotypes cannot be a critical listener.

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v. Critical listening is important in problem solving, broadening one’s knowledge and
improving relationships through better understanding.

Appreciative Listening: (Listening to Enjoy)

i. Appreciative listening is exactly what the name implies listening to enjoy the story,
music or information.

ii. The person listens to the matter that he appreciates. This is to understand the
speaker’s mind-set, needs, tone, and mood to appreciate a point of view. This type of
listening involves Skills such as interpreting, visualizing, and understanding.

Importance of Listening Skills in Communication

Listening skills are a vital part of good communication. If you have good
communication skills, you can start to improve relationships in the workplace as well as
in society. Also, you will be able to make decisions more effectively and reach a
quicker agreement with others. According to Chen (2005), here are 7 reasons why
listening skills are essential:

a) Reduces Misunderstandings

Poor communication always results in misunderstandings. And, poor communication

arises from poor listening skills. People end up assuming things and misunderstanding
each other if they do not share their side of the stories or listen to others actively. So,
it’s easy to mishear something or misinterpret information. Such misunderstanding can
gradually keep increasing if the listening skills in communication are not improved.

b) Builds Empathy

Empathy is essential to effective listening. Therefore, it would be best if you mirrored

the emotions the speaker has. For example, if the speaker’s face expresses sadness or
joy, your facial expressions and words should also express similar emotions. Empathy
towards the speaker takes concentration and consumes energy, allowing open
communication and establishing relationships.

c) Limits Judgments

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Listening limits judgments. While actively listening to someone, your total
concentration stays in the conversation. As a result, you try your best to understand the
other person or group of people and remove judgmental thoughts. You, therefore, listen
to the speaker with an open mind because they are giving you their perspective. You
may realize that the speech makes more sense as they continue the lecture.

d) Improves Business Relationships

If you are working in a customer-centric or interactive role, your communication skills

play a big part in your success. Thus, practicing good listening skills with everyone at
the workplace would benefit your success. You could also build stronger bonds with
your co-workers. As a result, everyone will respect you more and value you.

e) Increases Productivity

Whether you’re at work or home, listening is essential to your success. Good listeners
are more likely to store information and understand what’s being required of them. This
is a valuable skill in group projects and meetings. People may think they need to talk a
lot to contribute, but listening is arguably more essential. If everyone listens to each
other, there is less room for misunderstandings. This increases everyone’s productivity.

f) Enhances Leadership Skills

Leaders always have good listening skills in communication. Active listening helps you
connect with your team’s ideas, hear various perspectives, and prevent
miscommunications. In addition, a good team leader ensures everyone feels respected,
which means they all feel listened to. They always listen to others and help them in
every possible way.

g) Providing Feedback

Providing feedback to the speaker can only be achieved through active listening. The
goal of feedback is to send signals to the speaker to know that you are actively listening.
The medium of feedback can be verbal or non-verbal.

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For example, you can use “okay, or I understand it” for verbal feedback. And for non-
verbal feedback, you can nod your head and other appropriate facial expressions.
Writing down what the speaker is saying also shows your attentiveness.

Techniques to improve Listening Skills

 Motivate yourself to listen

Listeners should motivate their mind to listen to the speaker carefully. They should
prepare themselves to listen to others willingly. Listening cannot be forced or imposed
on the person. Individual should know the value and importance of listening.

 Respect the speaker

Listeners should have respect for the speaker. They should not underestimate the
speaker’s ideas and thoughts. Even if, the listener disagrees with some of the ideas of
the speaker, they should show their disagreement positively.

 Remove Horn effect

Do not underestimate a person because he has couple of flaws in his behavior. Many
people are like rough diamonds. They need to be understood carefully. The speaker
ideas can be rejected or doubted by the listeners. However listener should nor insult or
dislike the speaker.

 Positive body language:

Listener should maintain positive body language like nod of head, leaning forward,
maintain erect postures, during communication. Moreover listener should not create any
type of distractions by using unnecessary body language. Many listeners revolve
notebook, or any other object in their hand. Do not interrupt: Listeners should not
interrupt the speaker unnecessarily. Many listeners have tendency to make remarks or
comments during speech. Moreover many listeners repeat the words and expression of
the speaker loudly

 Improve your listening span:

Listeners should get training for enhancing their span of active listening. Many a times,
we have to listen to speeches or lectures for long duration.

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  Speaker’s use of appropriate body language

Speaker should use positive body language Otherwise Listeners will be observing these
body movements and thereby neglect ideas and expressions of the speaker.

 Voice modulation

The speaker should modulate his voice and use different tones while speaking. It creates
interesting atmosphere in the audience and they pay more attention to the speaker. It
creates an environment for effective listening.

Benefits of Listening
According Hasan (2000), e ffective listening at all level is very important for the
successful running of an organization. Good listening skills make workers more
productive. The ability to listen carefully will allow you to:

 Better understand assignments and what is expected of you.

 Build rapport with co-workers, bosses, and clients.
 Show support.
 Work better in a team-based environment.
 Resolve problems with customers, co-workers, and bosses.
 Answer questions; and find underlying meanings in what others say.
 Effective listening helps in controlling rumors which helps in preventing
damage to the reputation of the organization.
 Effective listening will improve the working condition and nurture harmony and
unity among the workers and colleagues.

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Conclusion

It is vital to remember that listening is an active process and considerably more than
simply hearing. It encompasses all the processes required to make an effective response,
up to and including responding itself. All these processes require a range of skills,
which explains why it takes time and effort to develop your listening skills. However,
this time and effort will be repaid over and over again in improved interpersonal
communication and relationships.

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References

 Anderson, K. & Lynch, T. (1998). Listening. Oxford University Press.

 Chen, Y. (2005). Barriers to acquiring listening strategies for EFL learners and
their pedagogical implications. TESL_EJ, 8(4). http://tesl-ej.org
 Hasan, A. S. (2000). Learners’ perceptions of listening comprehension
problems. Language Culture and Curriculum, 13(2), 137-153.
https://doi.org/10.1080/07908310008666595
 Imhof, M., Henning, N. & Kreft, S. (2009). Effects of background noise on
cognitive performance in elementary school children. Listening Education, 2, 1-
10. https://www.researchgate.net/

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