Effective listening

1. Effective Listening (practical group work guidelines)
Effective Listening
Effective Listening is the process of analyzing sounds, organizing them into recognizable
patterns, interpreting the patterns and understanding the message by inferring the meaning
Many of the problems we experience with people in our daily lives are primarily attributable to
ineffective listening or lack of listening
Listening and hearing are not the same. Hearing is the first stage of listening. Hearing occurs
when our ears pick up sound waves which are then transported to our brain. This stage is our
sense of hearing. Listening is a communication process and, to be successful, is an active
process. In other words, we must be an active participant in this communication process. In
active listening, meaning and evaluation of a message must take place before a listener can
respond to a speaker. Therefore, the listener is actively working while the speaker is talking.
How can this happen? It is simple. Our thought speed is much faster than our speech speed. But
be careful! Don't allow the thought speed to race into daydreaming. This habit will defeat our
attempt to become an active listener.
Stepsof effective listeningguidelines
Face the speaker and maintain eye contact.
 Be present
 Give attention
 Pay attention
 Screen out distractorse.g background activity,noise,not focuss on speakers
accent,speakers mannerism,not distracted by your own taught
Be attentive, but relaxed.
 Avoid judgemental/critizing
 Listening
Keep an open mind
 Listen without judging
 Do not mentally criticizing
 Listen without jumping to conclusions
 Don't be a sentence-grabber/ interrupting and finishing the sentences
Listen to the words and try to picture what the speaker is saying.
 Allow your mind to create a mental model of the message
 remember, key words and phrases
 don’t spend the time planning what to say next
 , concentrate on what is being said, even if it bores you.
Don't interrupt and don't impose your "solutions."

2.  Interrupting sends a variety of messages. It says:
 "I'm more important than you are."
 "What I have to say is more interesting, accurate or relevant."
 "I don't really care what you think."
 "I don't have time for your opinion."
 "This isn't a conversation, it's a contest, and I'm going to win."
 We all think and speak at different rates
Wait for the speaker to pause to ask clarifying questions.
 Ask questions only to ensure understanding.
Try to feel what the speaker is feeling.
Give the speaker regular feedback.
Pay attention towhat isn't said—to nonverbal cues.
THE IMPORTANCE OF LISTENING
Teacher must have patience, compassion, the ability to inspire good listening skills. Listening skills are an
incredibly important skills for teachers. It is difficult for a teachers to know what needs to be taught unless he
can hear what is missing, what needs clarification and what is understand. If a class of any age feels the teacher
does not hear them, their needs or their concerns, then the learning will suffer whether the teacher knows it or
not.
Active Listening It is important for teachers to actively listen to the class in a sincere and meaningful way
during instruction, the teacher who uses open dialogue should listen to each student’s contribution. This
promotes participation & helps the students feel secure while learning in the classroom.
Passive Listening Passive teaching is part of the art of teaching. A teacher must listen to the entire class
during their activities apart form the active listening done during pure instructional time. If a teacher gets
involved in students’ conversations from time to time during these moments, it will alert the students to a
constant teacher presence that is attentive to their needs as well as maintaining discipline among them. If the
students know the teacher is aware, listening and concerned, random acts of unkindness are less likely to
occur.
STAGES OF EFFECTIVE LISTENING
The listening process can be broken up into five distinct stages: receiving, understanding, remembering,
evaluating, and responding. This is the model most commonly referred to when analyzing good
communication, because it helps isolate the necessary skills required at each individual step in the process.
1. Receiving
This is the first and most basic stage of the listening process:the act of actually absorbing the
information being expressed to you, whether verbally or non- verbally.
No matter how you’re communicating with another person, the key at this stage is to pay attention.
Focus all of your energy on them, by following these three simple tips:
Avoid distractions. This is obvious. Don’t have your cellphone out, or your iPod in, or the television on.
Don’t try to divide your attention between the speaker and something else. You might think you’re good at

3. multi-tasking, and perhaps you are, but demonstrating a commitment to the act of listening will make you
a more respected person among your peers.
Don’t interrupt the speaker. You might want to make an assumption about what the speaker is saying, or
what they’re about to say – don’t. It’s rude, and you may find your assumption was wrong, which is
beneficial to no one. You can, however, practice nonverbalfeedback cue, such as nodding, to demonstrate
your attention.
Don’t rehearse your response. Not yet. At this stage, your job is only to listen. If you start to plan a
speech while the other person is speaking, you’re going to miss certain points and not be able to respond to
their larger message when it’s your turn to talk.
2. Understanding
This is the point in the listening process where you’re able to plan your response. Understanding takes place
after you’ve received the information from the speaker, and begin to process its meaning.
You can do this by asking questions, or rephrasing parts of the speaker’s message. This allows you to
demonstrate your active engagement with their words, and help you better understand their key points.
3. Remembering
Remembering is about retaining that information, and the most effective way to do so in an important
conversation is to move the key elements of a message from your short-term memory, and into your long- term
memory.
There are numerous methods for doing this:
Identify the fundamental points. By converting a collection of small details into a central theme, you’re able
to create something potentially complicated into an easy-to-grasp generalconcept. The details will remain in
your short-term memory, but isolating the main ideas will help you understand them better, and remember
them longer.
Make the message familiar. Relate that main idea to something you already know. This should be easy to do
– there aren’t many new ideas out there, and chances are the discussion you’re having will trigger old
memories and past experiences. Use those to help you retain incoming information.
4. Evaluating
It’s at this stage where you can begin to prepare for your response, but remember: you’re still a listener, not a
speaker. After the message has been absorbed, processed, and remembered, you can begin to sort the
information into pieces.
5. Responding
If you’ve completed the receiving, understanding, remembering, and evaluating portions of the listening
process, responding should be easier than ever. You’ll be prepared to address the speaker’s most important
points, with an awareness of the circumstances and context surrounding their words.
It’s important to understand the transition between listening and speaking though, and be aware of the ways
responding is still a part of the active listening process.