There are different ways to listen depending on the environment the listener is located, whether it is at work, at school or even just listening in general. The listener needs to adapt to that environment to be able to listen actively and effectively. In other words, listening seems like an easy action and most people tend to believe that it doesn’t need any effort or skill to be better at it. As a matter of fact, some people may think that listening is an action that comes naturally but it is not the case. Furthermore, it is known that most people are able to speak at the rate of 175 to 200 words per minute but are capable of listening and processing over 600 to 1000 words per minute. Listening is can be difficult because the human brain does not use its full capacity to accomplish such a simple task. In addition, people are more worried about what they want to say and think their message is more important. Given the fact that listening is a difficult skill to master, there are a few tips and techniques in order to be better at it. We will concentrate on listening in general, how to listen in the workplace, and how to listen in a classroom.
Techniques to improve listening skills in general
Listening in general is related to listening to your friends and family or simply when engaging a conversation. This type of listening is hard because most of the time people tend to get lost on their own thoughts or do not take the speaker seriously. However, there are ways to improve your listening skills in general. After reviewing different articles from different authors on how to improve our listening skills in general, we came to the conclusion that there at least eight to ten important techniques. In order to give an idea of all the tips for better listening, we only posted the most significant article. Listed below, you will find the main key points in order to listen effectively.
Face the speaker: adopt a position that will allow you to show the attentiveness through your body language. Also, transmitting non verbal communication, such as nodding your head, will make the speaker feel that you are listening.
Maintain eye contact: Again, to show that you are listening and to show your level of comfort.
Avoid external distraction: Make sure to avoid distractions such as any noise or activities that could prevent you from fully listening to your speaker.
Avoid internal distraction: Avoid getting lost in your thoughts and if it does happen, try to focus again on what the speaker is saying.
Provide feedback: When listening, it is very important to respond from time to time.
Try to maintain your attention on what the speaker is saying: Listen carefully and avoid thinking about what you are going to say. Only focus on the message the speaker is trying to transmit.
Be open-minded: Do not be judgmental while the message is being transmitted, wait until the speaker has finished.
Rephrase the message: After the message is transmitted you can rephrase in your own words what the speaker just said in order to make sure that you grasp the message.
Engage yourself: If you did not understand the essence of the message, do not hesitate to ask questions for some clarification. However, wait until the speaker is finished to avoid interrupting.
For more information on these techniques, here are some interesting websites:
Techniques to improve listening in the workplace
Listening in the workplace, more specifically in the business environment is very important in order to succeed. As a matter of fact, “an individual with good listening ability is more likely to succeed; good listening enhances performance, leading to raises, promotions, status, and power.”(Bovée, 1995, p.630) In fact, in your everyday life at work, you need to listen to your customers, your colleagues and even your superiors. In order to be able to understand and meet the requirements of every request, listening carefully comes in handy. However, to become a good listener, some techniques need to be followed. Understandably the same techniques from listening in general as mentioned above apply to this kind of environment such as the workplace. To avoid redundancy, we will focus on how to conduct a business meeting in order to increase the level of retention.
Conducting an effective meeting for a better listening.
In general, meetings are called to share information, to solve problems, make a decision or to set objectives. Conducting an effective meeting requires some techniques to be followed. First key point is:
Determining the purpose and understanding the group dynamic:
When conducting a meeting there are several points that need to be taken under consideration so those said meeting turn out to be productive. Whenever calling a meeting, a purpose must be determined beforehand. However the dynamic of the group is also very important and will affect the outcome of the meeting, so understanding such dynamic is critical.
Determining the role of each individual:
Each individual plays a different role as a part of a group and impacts the outcome of the group’s activities. There are different roles such as the self-oriented role whose task is to control, withdraw, seek attention and divert. Then, we have the group-maintenance role that takes care of encouraging, harmonizing, and compromising. Last, we have the task-facilitating role that makes sure to initiate, to seek or give information and to coordinate the activities among the group. For more details on these specific tasks, more information can be found in this book:
Locker, K. O. (1989). Business and administrative communication. Homewood, IL : Irwin. p.643
Arranging the meeting:
Now that we know the different roles of each individual of the group, the next step is to arrange the meeting to make it efficient. To ensure an effective meeting, predetermining the purpose as mentioned above is vital. Also, planning the agenda, setting the participants and the location is important. By doing that, some problems can be avoided like drifting away from the main subject, the meeting lasting too long and most importantly to make sure that the participants listen until the end of the meeting. Furthermore, a meeting must be interactive, to ensure the level of retention from the participant. Encourage them to take notes and to ask questions if clarifications are needed.
For more information regarding this topic, visit this website.
Techniques to improve listening skills in a classroom
Many students have difficulties listening during a lecture for many reasons. For example, the subject and/or the instructor's way of teaching can be perceived as uninteresting. Either way, there are some techniques to overcome those difficulties. The following tips will be helpful to find a lecture more interesting and to increase the level of retention. Here are eight techniques to improve the listening skills in a classroom.
Make the subject useful: Instead of immediately judging the subject as dull, see it as new knowledge to learn. Doing so will help you find the subject more interesting.
Focus on the message the professor is transmitting: Avoid turning your attention on the professor’s physical attire such as clothes or at the way he delivers the material. Only focus on the message specifically.
When disagreeing with a piece of the material: Do not be judgmental and jump to a conclusion too quickly because you might miss an important piece of information by only focusing on your thoughts. Wait until the end to make your opinion.
Identify the main concepts of the lecture: By identifying those fundamental concepts, you will extract the essence of the lecture.
Find an effective note-taking structure: Adjust your note-taking along the structure of the lecture.
Pay attention to the lecture given: Avoid daydreaming; instead stay focused on the material for the entire lecture session.
Listen carefully to hard material: When a hard subject lies ahead do not give up, instead work harder to increase your understanding and your level of comfort with that subject.
Get to know your professor: Don’t be judgmental against your teacher, try to know him on a more personal level such as his background.
For more details visit these interesting websites:
To apply these techniques effectively, it is important to know the cultural and gender differences when listening. Doing so will help avoid misunderstanding between cultures and genders. For more information, here is an interesting section cultural and gender differences when listening.
References
Locker, K. O. (1989). Business and administrative communication. Homewood, IL : Irwin.
Bovée, C. L. (1995). Business communication today (5th ed.). New York, NY : McGraw-Hill.
Guffey, M. E., Rhodes, K. & Rogin, P. (2006). Business communication: Process and product (3rd ed.). Toronto, On: Nelson Education
