CHARACTERISTRICS OF

EFFECTIVE LISTENER
UNIT # 6.3
Reasons for poor Listening
• Lack of Effort
• Message overload
• Racing Thoughts
• Psychological noise
• Physical Noise
• Hearing problems
• Faulty assumptions
THE CHARACTERISTICS OF EFFECTIVE LISTENER
It range across these cognitive, affective, and behavioral frames.

1. Cognitive characteristics of effective listening

•Probing
•Paraphrasing                    
•Summarizing

Asking questions to follow up or for clarification, paraphrasing the individual

communications, and summarizing the conversation are all activities that show the
listener’s cognitive engagement in the conversation, indicating his or her attempts to fully
understand and correctly interpret the messages being relayed.
2. affective characteristics of effective listening
•Focusing of attention
•Acceptance
•Empathy

The effective listener can also signal his or her affective engagement in the conversation
by making it the sole focus of attention, and by receiving communications with
acceptance and empathy. 

Receiving communications with empathy requires that the listener try to avoid projecting
his or her own opinions, feelings or prejudices onto the speaker, and that the listener
accept the speaker’s communications without simultaneously trying to craft a response.
3. Behavioral characteristics of effective listening
•Non-verbal behavior
•Advice

Action is also part of effective listening. The listener should communicate his
or her attention through non-verbal means like eye contact, erect posture,
nodding, and other positive body language. 

The listener can also demonstrate engagement by broadening the range of the
conversation, such as by inquiring about or suggesting alternatives to the
topic or conclusions at hand.
Thank you