Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Effective Listening
Purpose
This course will help you enhance your ability to listen more effectively
without making assumptions or expectations about how a conversation
should go.
Learning Objectives
Effective Listening
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Most of the successful people I’ve known are the ones who do
more listening than talking.
-Bernard
Baruch
Time Spent Communicating
Listening
Speaking
Reading
Writing
Physical process
Natural
Passive
Listening is understanding what you have heard
Communication Types
______________________ Words
Verbal Cues
One - _________________________
Two - _________________________
Three - ________________________
Vocal Cues
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Rate of Speech
____________________________________________________________________
_
Volume
____________________________________________________________________
_
Tone
____________________________________________________________________
_
Visual Cues
Facial Expressions
____________________________________________________________________
_
Head Movements
____________________________________________________________________
_
Gestures
____________________________________________________________________
_
Spatial Relationships
____________________________________________________________________
_
Attire
____________________________________________________________________
_
• Paying too much attention to how the other person is taking the
message.
• Being so interested in what you have to say that you listen mainly
to find an opening to get the floor.
talking.
• Only listening to your own personal beliefs about what is being said.
message.
• Not asking for clarification when you know that you do not
understand.
Effective Listening
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To exchange information
To build a working relationship
To feel good
To make someone else feel good
Listening Pitfalls
Read the list of pitfalls and place a check mark in the box next to any of your personal
pitfalls
Internal Distractions
• Memories of earlier conversations or meetings
• Expectations
• Attitude
• Values
• Prejudice/ Bias
• Past experiences
External Distractions
• Room Temperature
• Outside noises
• Telephones
• Interruptions
• Flip Charts/ Hand-outs
1. Listen . . .
To feelings as well as words, emotions and implications
Focus on the speaker – don’t plan, speak, or get distracted
What is the speaker talking about?
Look at speaker
Use verbal and non-verbal encouragers
2. Question . . .
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3 Purposes
Demonstrates you are listening
Gather information
Clarification
Open-ended
Tell me more
How did you feel?
What happened?
3. Reflect - Paraphrase
Reflect what is said (in your words)
Reflect feelings
Reframe
Capture the essence of the communication
Remove negative framing
Move toward problem solving
4. Agree
Get the speakers consent to your reframing
Speaker has been heard and knows it
Solution is near
Take notes to verify the information that you have written down;
after the meeting compare your notes with someone else.
Be comfortable as a listener
Ignore distractions
Skills Practice
Listening Activity
Round One: Use the techniques listed below to show your interest.
Show Interest:
Focus on the speaker
Openly tell the speaker that you are interested,
and why
Use nonverbal cues for rapport
Use short verbal cues to encourage
communication
Avoid interrupting the speaker
Ask Questions:
Use open-ended questions
Limit closed-ended questions
Self-Rating: On a scale from 1 (low) to 10 (high), rate yourself on how
well you:
Round 3: Use the techniques listed below to let the speaker know
what you understand.
Understand:
Restate in your own words what you have heard
If the speaker does not agree with your restatement, try again
until you have a match
Acknowledge the speaker’s emotions
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Summary
"We were given two ears but only one mouth, because listening is
twice as hard as talking."
2. Give your full attention. Face the person you are speaking with,
maintain eye contact and respond when appropriate.
6. Listen for feelings behind the words. Be aware of the other person’s
feelings. Accept those feelings even if you are in disagreement.
Failure to be aware of feelings behind the words is often a major
hindrance to understanding.
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***Drs. Genie and Preston Dyer - The Dyers teach in the sociology
department at Baylor University. ©5/27/2004
Resources
Achieve Global
Business Listening.com
International Listening Association (ILA) – http://listen.org
HighGain, Inc. – http://highgain.com
Effective Listening
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