Listening
Listening is a conscious recognition of the sounds you hear. It
is active, and it is a skill. The intent of the listener is to understand what is being said, what was meant by it, and then to
determine the appropriate response, if any.
Listening improves communications; listening improves
your enjoyment of many things, such as music; and listening is a way
to learn, thus making you better at your chosen profession.
You should consider four questions with respect to listening as the
other half of the questions:
• Are you heard?
• Do people listen?
• Do you listen to yourself?
• How do you know you are understood?
You might not remember what it was you asked,
but people will remember that you listened.
- The Role of Listeningin Asking the Right Questions
Terry J. Fadem
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“Communication is the most important skill in life. We spend most of our waking hours communicating. But consider
this: You’ve spent years learning how to read and write, years learning how to speak. But what about listening?
What training or education have you had that enables you to listen so that you really, deeply understand another
human being from that individual’s own frame of reference?”
—Stephen R. Covey
Stephen Covey’s book, T h e 7 H a b i t s o f H i g h l y E f f e c t i v e P e o p l e ,
Ten Tips to Good Listening
7. Find an area of interest.
8. Judge content, not delivery.
9. Delay evaluation. Focus on the speaker, not on your response.
1 0. Listen for ideas.
1 1. Be flexible in mind and in body language.
1 2. Actively work at listening. Listen with what psychiatrist Theodor Reik called your “Third Ear”—your extra
sense.Resist distractions.
1 4. Exercise your mind. Mentally paraphrase the speaker’s words.
1 5. Keep your mind open. What are you learning?
1 6. Capitalize on thought speed.
A d a p t e d f r o m C r e s t a r B a n k M a n a g e m e n t D e v e l o p m e n t C u r r i c u l u m .
To find out more information ask the open-ended questions—when? what? where? who?
Desire + Effort + Skill = Improved Listening
The PAR Group: Listening for Teamwork http://www.thepargroup.com/lsn.html
Toastmasters: Improving Your Listening & Speaking Skills http://www.toastmasters.com/tmgood.htm
Susan Gill:Communication and Image Skills http://www.sna.com/aamt/comm.html
Management Course:Interpersonal Communication http://www.mgmtconcepts.com/dataMANAGE/
COURSE/4057.htm
Amy Bly and Robert W. Bly:Improving Your Listening Skills http://www.smartbiz.com/sbs/srts/
bly55.htm
“Huh???(tips on listening skills)” http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~worlds/94_12/communic.html
ERIC Clearinghouse:Assessing Listening and Speaking Skills http://gopher.indiana.edu:2002/
eric_rec/gopher/ericdigs/olddigs/d01
They don’t care how much you know until
they know how much you care.
—LOU HOLTZ
