Listening is an important part of our daily lives. People often confuse hearing and listening as the same but both are different.
Listening is an important part of our daily lives. People often confuse hearing and listening as the same but both are different. Hearing is a biological activity, in its reception of a message is done whereas listening includes, reception, attention, understanding and reaction to the message that has been delivered.
Recognise that both the sender as well as the receiver have equal responsibility in making effective communication. It is very important to find out that both the speaker and listener are interested enough to share and make the conversation worth having.
The Top Tips to Effective Listening
Refrain from forming an early judgement about information that is being communicated. Be open to all the ideas. A person playing the role of a listener should not make any judgement in between the communication. It is very important to listen carefully to the ideas even if the concept is new to your knowledge.
Be a Patient listener, do not be in a hurry to Respond
A listener is identified by his/her patience. It is necessary to listen to everything very calmly and patiently. The hurry of a listener lets the speaker assume it is unworthy or non-effective communication.
Do not talk about only what you want to talk about. Give consideration to the opponent and also what they want to convey. This often happens while having a conversation that the person who was there to listen starts giving suggestions on pre assumptions and talks about what they want to without listening to the other one. This can lead to serious issues with the speaker as his /her feelings remain suppressed.
Be careful of the emotional responses which certain words can bring about
While sitting in a conversation, the thing that is to be taken care about is that a listener should not respond in a manner that can hurt or evoke emotional distress to a speaker. A listener should be very careful while choosing their words.
Be aware that your posture affects your Listening
In the most basic essence, a listener communicates without using verbal language. The acts that are non verbal are often symbolic and are part of the Body language.
Body language can be defined as an aspect that includes the factors like gestures, posture, eye-contact, attire and the body movements. While listening, you must notice that your posture does not make the communicator uncomfortable or uneasy to share their feeling.
Control Distractions
The most important and final step of effective listening is to control and manage the obstacles. A true listener doesn’t make the speaker- listener relationship personal and manages the distraction.
