EFFECTIVE LISTENING

Everybody thinks that they know how to listen. It’s easy, right? However, there is a difference between listening and hearing. Are we really listening and understanding what the other person is saying? OR are we only hearing the words someone says?

Listening is a learned skill and it is the most important of all of our communication skills. It takes practice to be an effective listener.

Listening can be affected by what is going on around us and what is going on in our own minds

If we are in a noisy place or if we are angry or hungry, we can’t listen as well.

To be a good listener, we need to know some of the barriers that might get in the way of our understanding the message. We need to be aware of situations when we are not really listening.

Here are some things that can tell us if we are not really listening:

• daydreaming
• slouching in the chair
• looking at our watch, the floor or the ceiling
• playing with an object such as a pencil or a ball
• staring into space
• drumming our fingers on the table
• crossing our legs or bouncing or tapping our foot
• turning slightly away from the other person or crossing your arms across your chest
• yawning, rolling your eyes or showing other signs of boredom
• not looking at the speaker