2. ‘Listening’ defined
The importance of listening
Listening skill clusters
Attending skills
Following skills
Reflecting skills
Summary
Questions
3. Hearing vs. Listening
“Hearing, is a word used to describe the
physiological sensory processes by which auditory
sensations are received by the ears and
transmitted to the brain”
“Listening, on the other hand, refers to a more
complex psychological procedure involving
interpreting and understanding the significance of
the sensory experience”
4. Because it takes up more of our waking hours than any
other activity
70% of our waking moments are spent in communication;
writing - 9 %
reading - 16 %
talking - 30 %
listening - 45 %
It is important to listen effectively because of the large
amount of it we do each day
Many facets of our lives influence our skills in listening
6. Inclining ones body toward the speaker
Facing the speaker squarely
Maintaining an open body posture
Positioning yourself at an appropriate
distance from the speaker
7. The avoidance of distracting motions and
gestures
Facial expressions reflect emotions back to the
speaker
Nodding your head is a positive gesture
8. Effective eye contact
Enables the speaker to appraise your
receptiveness
Essential for effective interpersonal
communication in our society
Sustained, direct and reflective
9. Eliminate distractive noises and movement
Remove sizable physical barriers to foster
better communication
10. Door openers are noncoersive invitations to talk
People often send ‘door closers’ or ‘roadblocks’
Door openers typically have four elements
A description of the other persons body language
An invitation to talk or continue talking
Silence
Attending
11. Minimal encourages are brief indicators to
the other person you are with them e.g.
“Mm-hmm”, “Oh, I see”, “Go on” or “Sure”
Minimal encourages do not imply agreement
or disagreement with what the speaker said.
Rather, it lets the speaker know the listener is
still with them
12. Questions are an integral part of verbal
interaction in our society.They have their
strengths and limitations
Closed questions direct the speaker to give a
specific, short response
Open questions provide space for the speaker
to explore his thoughts
13. The listener needs to learn the value of
silence in freeing the speaker to think, feel
and express himself
During the pauses in an interaction, a good
listener does the following:
Attends to the other
Observes the other
Thinks about what the other is communicating
14. Paraphrasing is restating what you believe to be the
essence of a speakers comments
Reflecting feelings is listening accurately to another
person and reflecting the emotional state of the person in
your own words
Reflecting meanings is listening accurately and reflecting
both the content and the feeling of the other
Summative reflections is a brief restatement of the main
themes and feelings the speaker expressed over a
long period of conversation
15. Listening is a combination of hearing what
another person says and involvement with the
person who is talking.
It is important because we spend more time
listening than anything else we do in our waking
hours.
Our ability to listen directly influences our
friendships, our family relationships and our
effectiveness at work.
16. What are the three skill clusters of listening as
described in the reading?
Who here thinks they are a good listener?
How much of our waking hours as a
percentage are spent communicating?
How much of our communication as a
percentage is spent listening?
