Business Communication

Effective Listening
Objectives

 Effective vs ineffective listening

 Types of listening

 How to become an effective listener

Introduction

 According to
studies, within 24
hours, people are
able to recall only
about one-fourth
of what they
heard
Introduction

WRONG!!!
 Listening is easy
 Listening comes naturally
 Hearing and listening are the same
Ineffective Listening Habits
Ineffective Listening Habits

1. Deciding in advance that the subject is

uninteresting
– Poor listeners learn what the talk is about
and decide immediately that the subject
is of no interest to them. Instead of
listening they think of something else,
write meaningless things on their notepad
etc.
Ineffective Listening Habits

2. Focusing on the poor delivery of the

speaker
– Poor listeners focus on the appereance
or delivery of the speaker. Inappropriately
dressed speakers, as well as the ones
that punctuates their speech with “uh” or
“er” distracts ineffective listener
Ineffective Listening Habits

3. Becoming overexcited and anxious to

make your own point
– Poor listeners want to run ahead of the
conversation. Especially if it is a subject
that they have some knowledge, their
minds race ahead to plan their own
sentences.
Ineffective Listening Habits

4. Focusing only on facts

– Poor listeners listens only for the facts,
but later when they try to remember
them, they often missed the less concrete
but more important concepts and ideas
behind the facts.
Ineffective Listening Habits

5. A tendency to outline
everything
– Poor listeners tend to
outline lectures or
speeches. However if
these talks are not well
organized by the
speaker, when later
reviewed, these notes
provide little insight to
what was said
Ineffective Listening Habits

6. Pretending to pay attention

– Poor listeners are often tired, lazy or
bored. They pretend to listen in an
attentive posture and then mentally drift
away.
Ineffective Listening Habits

7. Allowing distractions to interfere

– Distractions can be a noise that interferes
with one’s ability to hear, or a visual done
that attract’s one’s attention away from
the listener. Poor listeners take a very
passive role and allows distractions to
interfere with the listening process
Ineffective Listening Habits

8. Avoiding difficult material

– Poor listeners do not try to listen to
material that seems difficult for them
Ineffective Listening Habits

9. Responding emotionally to certain words

or phrases
– There are certain terms, phrases and
words that affect people in an emotional
way which makes some individuals block
out the rest of the conversation
Ineffective Listening Habits

10. Daydreaming because of difference

between speech speed and thought
speed
– People speak about 150 words per
minute. Listeners are capable of
processing 500-700 words per minute.
Poor listener often becomes involved in a
daydrean and forgets to tune back in
Effective Listening Habits
Effective Listening Habits

1. Accepting the challenge to get

something of worth out of every
situation
– Good listeners may find the subject
boring, but they accept the challenge and
make the most of the situation by
focusing on the speaker’s message, and
try to derive something from the
encounter
Effective Listening Habits

2. Focus on what is being said rather than

how it is being said
– Effective listeners simply ignore a
speaker’s poor delivery or annoying
mannerisms and focus on what is being
said
Effective Listening Habits

3. Waiting for the entire presentation before

beginning evaluation
– Effective listeners do not jump to
conclusions about what is being said,
instead wait for the presentation to
conclude before beginning their overall
evaluation
Effective Listening Habits

4. Focusing exclusively on the main ideas

– Good listeners look for the main ideas.
Once the overall ideas of the talk are
understood, the facts can be
remembered as logical components
Effective Listening Habits

5. Limiting their notetaking

– Good listeners sit back and listen before
picking up a pencil.
Effective Listening Habits

6. Listening actively
– Listening requires energy and attention.
The good listener not only hears
effectively but also observes the
nonverbal signs of the speaker
Effective Listening Habits

7. Avoiding distractions or at least

controlling them
– Effective listeners try to control their
environment by screening out
distractions.
Effective Listening Habits

8. Listening to challenging material

– The good listener occasionally seeks out
the difficult subjects to challenge his/her
listening skills
Effective Listening Habits

9. Filtering out emotion-laden words to

challenging material
– Effective listeners examine those words
and phrases that have an emotional
effect on them, and being aware of this
problem helps them to overcome the
listening barrier
Effective Listening Habits

10. Spending extra time on thoughts related

to the material being heard
– Effective listeners spend their extra
thoughts on materials related to the talk
to fill in the extra time between speech
speed and thought speed.
Types of Listening

 Appreciative
 Discriminative
 Comprehensive
 Critical
 Active
Types of Listening

 Appreciative: An individualized form of

listening that obtain enjoyment through
the words or experiences of others; like
listening to one’s favourite music or
watching tv...
Types of Listening

 Discriminative: Happens when people

try to distinguish one sound from
everything else; like stopping work to
hear if the phone is ringing
Types of Listening

 Comprehensive: Happens when people

listen for understanding. Involves trying
hard to remember what the person is
saying and to interpret the meaning as
precisely as possible.
Types of Listening

 Critical: Help the listener sift through

what he/she has heard and make a
decission
Types of Listening

 Active: Also called empathic listening,

involves more than just paying attention
or listening carefully. It also entails
empathic and supportive behaviours
that tell the speaker “I understand.
Please go on”
Listening Response Modes

 Directing / Judgemental
 Advising / Solving
 Interpreting
 Supportive
 Questioning
 Empathic / active
Responding Skills

 Directing / Judgemental
– say what is right or wrong, good or bad, passes
judgment

– Ex. “That was stupid!” “That’s right!”

– Advising/solving – shares advice/offers a solution

– Ex. “If I were you I would…” “Why don’t you…”

Responding Skills

 Interpreting
– Analyze, explain or teach the sender about the cause
– Ex. “She probably did this because…”

 Supportive
– Reassure, pacify or comfort
– Ex. “If there is any way I can help…”
Responding Skills

 Questioning
– Probes, clarifies, inquires or seeks more info
– Ex. “What makes you think that?” “Where were you?”
– Open questions – require more than a yes or no
answer
– Closed questions – can be answered with yes or no
Using Response Styles

 80% of your feedback will use 1 of 5 styles

 Directing / Judgemental
– Doesn’t help unless sender asks for advice

 Interpreting
– Works best when your intention is to offer
insight into the problem’s causes
Using Response Styles

 Supporting
– Works best when the sender has determined the problem
and needs encouragement

 Questioning
– When your need for additional info is genuine

 Paraphrasing
– This reveals a desire to understand the sender’s thoughts
and feelings
Becoming an active listener

 Listen for total meaning

 Respond to feelings
 Note all cues
 Take time to listen
 Be attentive
Becoming an active listener

 Employ only three kinds of verbal

reactions:encouraging sounds such as uh-
huh; restating what has been said; and
silence with a nod of head
 Avoid probing for additional facts
 Always give positive feedback