In the communication process, the sender has an idea and converts this idea into words and gestures. After encoding the idea, the message travels through a channel of communication from the sender to the receiver. The act performed by the receiver to hear and to get the message is listening.
As you may have realized, listening is part of every daily activities: whether you are young or old, or you study or work, or you have to listen in order to communicate. However, this activity seems to be misunderstood.
Misconceptions On Listening
Here are the top 10 myths about listening.
Here are the top 10 myths about listening.
Myth 1: "Listening is a matter of intelligence."
Fact: "Careful listening is a learned behaviour."
Myth 2: "Speaking is more important than listening in the communication process."
Fact: "Speaking and listening are equally important."
Myth 3: "Listening is easy and requires little energy."
Fact: "Active listeners undergo the same physiological changes as a person jogging."
Myth 4: "Listening and hearing are the same process."
Fact: "Listening is a conscious, selective process while hearing is an involuntary act."
Myth 5: "Speakers are able to command listening."
Fact: "Speakers cannot make a person really listen."
Myth 6: "Hearing ability determines listening ability."
Fact: "Listening happens mentally—between the ears."
Myth 7: "Speakers are totally responsible for the communication success."
Fact: "Communication is a two-way street."
Myth 8: "Listening means only understanding a speaker’s words."
Fact: "Nonverbal signals also help listeners gain understanding."
Myth 9: "Daily practice eliminates the need for listening training."
Fact: "Without effective listening training, most practice merely reinforces negative behaviors."
Myth 10: "Competence in listening develops naturally."
Fact: "Untrained people listen at only 25 percent efficiency."
What Is Listening?
Defining listening is like defining love. It is an interrelated concept that cannot only be defined by one word.
Listening can be defined in various ways but can be summarized by the following descriptions:
1- Listening is understanding what we hear the natural response of a human being when hearing a sound
According to Floyd, "Hearing is a passive process that occurs when sound waves cause the bones in your inner ear to vibrate and send signals to your brain, but listening requires much more than just perceiving the sound around you" (Floyd, 2009, p. 262). Listening actually completes the hearing process by understanding the meaning of the information.
2- Listening is a necessary skill for day-to-day communication
In various areas of our life, we need to listen. Family members and friends will not only love us because we have beautiful eyes, but because when they talk, we care about what they say by listening to them; our classmates and colleagues will be more than willing to work with people who show interest through understanding what they say.
3- Listening is an habit
Even though we are born with the ability to listen, it should be remembered that good listening requires practice and effort. As Cuban said, "Listening looks easy, but it's not simple. Every head is a world." . Listening is not reflex, it is an habit. If a person puts food into his or her mouth, he or she will be more likely to make his or her teeth move instead of swallowing the aliment right away. When listening, in the other hand, having the info inside the head is not enough, there is a need to analyze it in order to fully understand its meaning.
In overall, listening is a mountain that is worth climbing. Even though it is challenging to listen, excelling in listening can be compared to succeeding in life.
In order to reach the peak, it is very important to first understand how listening works and what could prevent the process and the types of listening.
Moreover, it is also helpful to explore how listening differs from cultures and genders.
Furthermore, knowing the benefits of listening will be the cherries on the cake: you will be encouraged via the comparison of the impact of bad vs good listening. To finish, a list of techniques will be provided in order to improve your listening aptitude.
However, let’s first start by taking one of the various tests through those links in order to evaluate your listening capabilities.
