LISTENING

University of KashmirIMBA 1 SEM 2013

M . M.Shaw

Listening as the process of receiving, constructing meaning from, and responding to spoken and/or nonverbal messages”. 

- The International Listening Association

The word “Listen” derives its

roots in the Germanic language from the word “Hlysnan” which means to pay attention. The first communication skill we engage in the moment we are born is listening. It is how we learn and acquire language.

The most basic of all human needs is

the need to understand and be

understood. The best way to

understand people is to listen to

them.

— Ralph Nicholas

Presented by: Nadia Aslam

THEPROCESS

HEARINGTHE SENSORY PERCEPTION OF SOUND

ATTENDING A MENTAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL

EFFORT WHICH INVOLVES CATEGORISATION & PRIORITISATION OF MESSAGES.

COMPREHENDING

REMEMBERING, UNDERSTANDING,

INTERPRETING AND GRASPING THE

MESSAGE.

EVALUATING ANALYSING THE

INFORMATION AND DRAWING

THE CONCLUSIONS.

RESPONDINGACKNOWLEDGEMENT, REACTION, FEEDBACK THROUGH GESTURES, SMILES, NODDING ETC.,

TYPES OF LISTENINGPresented by: Nida Riyaz

Saniya Saba

oDISCRIMINATIVE LISTENING

It is the first and foremost type of listening in which we learn to discern the difference in sound.

The best example of discrimnative listening as a phenomenon is the way a child learns to speak.

For example: - Singling out a single noise from

a noisy crowd.

o INFORMATIVE LISTENING

Listeners primary concern is

to understand the message. Listeners are successful when

the meaning they assign to messages is as close as possible to that which the sender intended.

E.g; Listening to lectures

APPRECIATIVE LISTENING

When the listener gains pleasure/satisfaction from listening to a certain type of music, poetry or even the stirring words of a great leader.

Appreciative sources might also include:

Particular charismatic speakers or Entertainers

COMREHENSIVE LISTENING

Comprehensive listening is what the message means to the listeners and how they understand it in different ways.

Listening comprehension involves: Speech decoding (sound, word,

accent recognition) Comprehending (identify central

theme, concentrate and understand, deduce incomplete information, decode unfamiliar words).

Oral discourse(critical skills, attitude analysis, inferential skills).

Critical Listening

Critical listening is that type of listening where listeners have to evaluate the message.

Listeners have to critically respond to the message and give their opinions.

This form of listening involves analysis, critical thinking as well judgment

Empathetic Listening

It focuses on spoken message and the emotions of the individual.

It includes understanding the non-verbal cues.

Involves listening to other person by putting oneself in the physiological position of that other person .

Presented by: Nida Rasheed

ACTIVE AND PASSIVE

LISTENING

A way of listening and responding to another person that improves mutual understanding.

A way of paying attention to other people that can make them feel that you are listening them.

ACTIVE LISTENING

BEHAVIORAL PATTERNS OF AN ACTIVE LISTENER

OBSERVE • NON VERBAL BEHAVIOR

FOCUS • NOT DOING ANY OTHER ACTIVITY WHILE LISTENING

ACKNOWLEDGE • RESPONDING THROUGH GESTURES & FEEDBACK.

RESPECT • LET THE SPEAKER FINISH

Listening without responding.

Interest in understanding what the other person is saying.

The speaker is not interrupted in any way..

PASSIVE LISTENING

PRINCIPLES OF LISTENING

Presented by: Ishret Fayaz

STOP TALKING

Don't talk, listen.  When somebody else is

talking listen to what they are saying, do not interrupt, talk over them or finish their sentences for them. 

Stop, just listen

PREPARE YOURSELF TO LISTEN

Relax.

Focus on the speaker. 

Put other things out of mind

Put the speaker at ease

• Help the speaker to feel free to speak

• Nod or use other gestures • or words to encourage them to

continue• Maintain eye contact but don’t

stare

Remove distractions

• Focus on what is being said.

• Avoid unnecessary interruptions

Empathize..

Try to understand the other person’s point of view.

Let go of pre-conceived ideas.

By having an open mind we can more fully empathise with the speaker. 

Be PatientA pause, even a long

pause, does not necessarily mean that the speaker has finished.

 Be patient and let the speaker continue in their own time, sometimes it takes time to formulate what to say and how to say it. 

Avoid personal prejudice •Try to be impartial.  •Don't become irritated.•Focus on what is being said and try to ignore styles of delivery

Listen to the toneA good speaker will use both volume and tone to their advantage to keep an audience attentiveIt helps you to understand the emphasis of what is

being said. 

s•Listen for ideas-not words•The most difficult aspects of listening is the ability to link together pieces of information to reveal the ideas of others.•You need to get the whole picture not just isolated pieces and bits.

Wait and watch for non verbal communication

Presented by: Imrez Ashraf

TECHNIQUES OF LISTENING

Listen with an open mind

Be ready to hear and consider all sides of an issue..

Avoid defensiveness

Listen to the entire message without judging or refuting

Biases and prejudices prevent from listening fully .

Listen , then judge or respond.

When you are the listener, you can’t simultaneously be the judge.

Determine the concepts and central ideas of the message

The best gauge to know whether you are listening or just hearing is whether or not you are actively looking for the central idea of what is being said.

Learn to adapt to the speakers Appearance, Personality and Delivery

Don’t judge a book by its cover. Not every one is blessed with

dashing looks Beyond appearance ,we should

also spend some time coming to peace with the fact that there are different personalities, styles and levels of abilities.

Curb and overcome distractions

It takes very little to jerk our attention away from the work of listening…

Obstacles… External noises. Psychological activity (worry,

self consciousness, preoccupation)

Physical conditions ( temperature ,odour ,light , visual distractions etc)

Semantic distractions ( dialects , accents , vocabulary)

Technological distractions

Show the speaker you are listening .

Head nods

Leaning forward

Making eye contact Stop trying to Jump in and Talk

Presented by: Samra Altaf

IMPORTANCE OF

LISTENING

Listening is the most powerful form of acknowledgment

…a way of saying, “You are important.”

Listening is the most powerful form of acknowledgment

…a way of saying, “You are important.”

Listening builds stronger relationships..

Creates a desire to cooperate among people because they feel accepted and acknowledged.

Listening creates acceptance and openness

Conveys the message that “I am not judging you.”

• Listening leads to learning

Openness encourages personal growth and learning.

• Listening reduces stress and tension..

Minimizes confusion and misunderstanding, eliminating

related stress and tension.

Listening is critical in conflict resolution

Much conflict comes from the need to be heard. Successful

resolution depends on being anon- anxious presence.

Presented by: Fariya Tahir

IMPROVING LISTENING

SKILLS

Listening is a far more complex process that most people think

{THILL and BOVEE }

Most of us listen at or below a 25% efficiency rate, remember only about half of what is said during a 10 minute conversation, and forget half of that within 48 hours.

”.

Resisting Distractions

Distractions at physical or mental level.

We have a pace of thinking faster than speaking, our attention begins to wander while we listen to someone.

Make conscious effort to bring our mind back.

Be alert to the speakers message that is to be transmitted.

Don’t be distracted by physical appearance and mannerisms of the speaker.

Concentrate on the message that the speaker tries to convey.

Focus More On the Manner Of Listening than on the Matter Of Listening

Skilled listeners focus on listening more to the message than to the matter of listening.

Each speech contains a limited number of points.

Our adapting to a right manner of listening makes us identify these points which, together convey the main message.

DELAYING EVALUATION

Give speaker adequate time to say.

Do not jump to conclusions.

Premature judgment hampers effective listening.

Remember a good listener keeps

his/her mind open for ideas or

information and his/her eyes keen to

how they are uttered

TAKING NOTES

Learn how to record what we listen.

Learning to take notes to keep a track of the speaker’s message should be the main thrust of the listener.

How a listener drives the main thrust of the speakers message home is also very important

Note taking technique is to acquire main points by writing the key words used by he speaker.

Notes guide us to become a more attentive and a creative listener.

Be alert to your Body Language

What you do with your hands, eyes, face and postures sends out signals as to whether you are or aren’t listening to and understanding what the other person is saying. These include…Yawning, sighing ,FrowningCrossing arms at chest etc

In conversations consider the following mannerisms

Smiling frequently, looking into your eyes, keeping eyes wide open indicates that the person shows interest in you and what you are saying.

Acknowledging the Speaker

In addition, the active listeners usually acknowledge the speaker verbally by comments such as ‘Umm’,

‘I see’, ‘Really?’

Listen to someone by paying attention…..is the greatest compliment we can give to another person.

BARRIERS TO LISTENING

Presented by:Soliah Nisar

Noise: Interior, Semantic Situational

Information overload

.

All this information can weigh on our ability to take in or receive and adequately process and evaluate what we take in through our sensory channels.

Speaker Perception

Sometimes we label the speaker

as uninteresting, not a good

speaker, boring or we can look

beyond the perceptions we

may have of the speaker.

Self Perceptions and Personal Biases

Self perceptions and personal biases can include:

Egocentrism

Ethnocentrism

Personal biases

Know-it-all attitude

Presented by: Ziya Manzoor

ROLE OF EMOTIONS IN

LISTENING

How important are emotions : Your own or others- when you are doing business?

Our emotions are involved in business like everything else in our lives, whether those emotions are:

Excitement, Pride, Pleasure, Frustration, Anger, or

Something more subtle.

Role of emotions in listening

To listen is also to communicate, and there are two emotional factors that affect most conversations:

1. How you feel about the other person’s idea

2. What you believe the other person feels about

your ideas

Emotions are integrally linked to decision making

Effective Communication

Skills

Emotional awareness

Effective communication requires both thinking and feeling

Beware of your own emotions

HEARING VS LISTENING

Presented by: Sumaira Nissar

Difference between Hearing and Listening HEARING LISTENING

•Hearing is the process of perceiving sound produced by any source in the environment.

•Hearing is merely the ability of ear to sense sound around one

• Listening is the process of deriving meaning from organized sounds.

• Listening is more complex than merely hearing as it consists of four stages

• Sensing, Attending, Understanding Interpreting, Remembering and Responding

• Listening is more of conscious effort to interpret the sounds requiring concentration of the mind.

When you are quiet, people will think you are listening.  But in order to hear what the other person is saying, you have to stop thinking about anything else and focus your attention on what is being said.

You can actually listen without hearing.  There are several reasons for this.  If you are planning your response while the other person is talking, there is no way you will hear what they are saying.

Or you may daydream while another person is talking.  This happens when you are not that interested in what someone is talking about.  Again, you won't be able to hear what is being said while your mind is preoccupied

Another issue is when you don't want to hear what is being said.  In this case your hearing actually shuts down so you don't have to listen to something you don't want to.  This can also happen when you don't agree with the

person.

Effective communication can only occur when each person is interested in hearing what the other is saying.  Both people have to make the effort to be good listeners.  This requires patience, respect, and courtesy.  Productive interaction takes intention and effort on the part of everyone involved.

Effective communication

There are two distinct processes involved in listening comprehension.

1.Top-down: In this process prior knowledge is employed to understand the meaning of a message.

2.Bottom-up: In this process linguisticKnowledge is used to understand the meaning of a message.

STYLES OF EFFECTIVE LISTENING

Presented by: Farkhanda Manzoor

People-Oriented Approach

Talks about “we” more than “you” or “they”

Concerned about their feelings.

Provide clear verbal and non-verbal clues

Content-Oriented Approach

Content-oriented are interested more in what is said rather than who is saying it or what they are feeling.

Rejects information that is not supported with evidence or expert opinion.

• Graphs and charts are good tools to use when speaking with content-oriented listeners.

Action oriented

Interested in 1. what will be done, 2. what actions will happen, 3. when and who will do them. Concise and focus on work

expectations.

Time Oriented

People who are time-oriented have their eyes constantly on the clock.

Want quick and brief messages. Interrupt speakers of how much

time is left

Presented by: Bareen Gundroo

PROFILE OF AN

EFFECTIVE LISTENER

Effective Listener; Mythical creature ? Does such thing exist?

What do we mean by an effective listener?

We might define effective listeners as those;

a) with sensitivity to context, language and nuance

b) b) Who don’t view listening as the pause before they talk

AN EFFECTIVE LISTENER: Will be: Fully Present And In the

Moment With You:

Will keep Keep Eye Contact With

You:

Will Nod, Smile And Give You Auditory Feedback

Will Parrot Back What You Are Saying When Appropriate

Will Only Finish Your Sentence When Appropriate.

Will Ask You Thoughtful and Open-ended Questions About What You Are Talking About:

Won’t interrupt and Won’t impose “solutions.”

Will Encourage You To Continue Talking.

Goes By the 80% Listening, 20% Talking Rule.

Will Keep The Conversation Focused on Your Topic of Discussion.

Listener Knows How to Empathize With You:

Pay attention to what isn’t said—to nonverbal cues.

SILENCE IN LISTENING

Presented by: Tuba Hamid

1.Allowing SILENCE in a conversation puts pressure on the other person.

2.SILENCE can indicate hostility or disagreement.

3.SILENCE can indicate profoundness such as respect, awe, or horror.

4.SILENCE can indicate contemplation.

5.SILENCE can indicate empathy.

• While its almost never an indication of indifference,silence can indicate that the other person is having negative emotions

•Sometimes we listen to someone that leaves us speechless because it really goes beyond words.Listening to someone taking about a dreadful trauma they have endured,or a beautiful,almost scared interaction with another human being or a description of an awesome natural event

•Silence can be an indication of empathy when we are really tuning in to how the other person is feeling about what they are saying,we are listening more to their voice,cadence and speed rather than the acted words and so replying with words may not be the attended response.