Mod7_Listening Skills

Slide 1 : Copyright @ 2011 IILM Institute of Higher Learning. All rights Reserved. Business Communication LISTENING SKILLS

INTRODUCTION : INTRODUCTION Ability to listen is the most critical skill required in managers and leaders. It provides them with all the information they need. Art of listening is the leaders’ cutting edge. If individuals establish reputation among subordinates and peers that they are good listeners and they welcome comments and suggestions, much useful information will gravitate towards you. It is said that, ‘If you listen to people well, they will tell you things that you have not ever thought of yourself!’   More people are pleased when they are listened to rather than being talked to. Although both talking and listening form the grist of the oral communication, one cannot listen if he is talking and if he is not listening, he is not learning either.   Smart people speak from experience; smarter people, from experience, do not speak. One cannot be listening with his mouth open. And the less people talk, the more others like to listen to them.

NEED FOR IMPROVING LISTENING SKILLS : NEED FOR IMPROVING LISTENING SKILLS Followings would highlight the importance of good listening  (1) Poor listeners:Most of us think that we are good listeners – research has confirmed the opposite! Managers spend 45 % of their time listening (they spend 30 % of their time talking).   (2) Listening more:There is now a consensus among specialists that individuals should listen more, especially those going up the ladder of hierarchy. When they listen more, they learn more and when they learn more, they are able to provide better leadership. (3) Poor retention and memory:Experience confirms that people are not only poor listeners but also poor in retaining and remembering. People can recollect only 50 % of what they hear and half of that also, they forget within 48 hours of hearing. When people were queried two days after they heard a speech, they tended to mix up subject matter and 30 % of the time replied incorrectly. (4) Listening is not taught :As a part of growing and development through learning and education, children are taught reading, writing and even speaking. They are rarely taught how to listen, now considered to be the most essential skill for managers and leaders. It is ignored in high schools and even in business schools where full credit subject of business communication skills is taught.   Now many companies are training their managers and leaders in the art of listening to help them incorporate listening as an important skill in their personality – it is a lot of hard work. Speaking (and teaching) is not as difficult as listening (and learning).

HEARING, LISTENING AND UNDERSTANDING : HEARING, LISTENING AND UNDERSTANDING Hearing is becoming aware of sounds especially through stimulation of auditory nerves in the ear by the sound waves. It is a sense by which sounds are perceived.  Listening is much more – it is making conscious efforts to hear the speaker. It is matching of the mental faculties of the sender and the receiver. It is the understanding of the intent of total message as sent by the sender. When the speaker asks if the audience understood the message, listeners’ nod is for the complete message including unspoken words, gestures and expressions of the speaker. Listening is an accurate perception of all that is being presented. Listening is a vital part of the entire process of communication. The effectiveness of communication is, in fact, determined by the extent to which listening and understanding takes place after an interaction. It consists of two stages:   Encoding and transmission of the message by the sender Decoding and providing the required feedback by the receiver   Listening is said to have taken place if there is satisfactory execution of both the stages. If the message has been understood in exactly the same way as was intended by the sender, it can be said that listening has taken place accurately. However, if there are discrepancies between the intent of message sent and the way it has been perceived, listening is deficient and the communication has not been effective.

PROCESS OF LISTENING : PROCESS OF LISTENING It entails following five steps: (1) Sensing:It is physical hearing and assimilating through all the five senses – hearing, seeing, smelling, tasting and touching. It should also include taking down notes. However, reception of message can get blocked because of:  Interfering noises and distractions Inattention by audience Impaired hearing etc  Listeners have to work hard to avoid distraction and focus on the message. (2) Interpreting:It is decoding in our mind and absorbing the message being delivered. As people listen, they assign meanings to words through their own mental filters comprising of their:  Beliefs,Assumptions,Values,Ideas,Expectations,Roles ,Needs,Personal history   Thus role of the persons listening to a speech is very vital. They should pay attention to non-verbal cues because body language of gestures, sounds, postures and expressions do not tell lies. If they have learnt the art and science of understanding speeches well, it increases accuracy of their listening.

Slide 6 : (3) Evaluating: It is forming opinion about the message heard. If the subject matter is complex or it is a topic that has emotional overtones, effort is required to:  Sort out the remarks made by the speaker Separate facts from opinions Evaluate quality of evidence As a rule, listeners dismiss ideas from an unattractive and abrasive speaker. Also, they easily embrace ideas of ‘charismatic’ speakers.  (4) Remembering:It is storing message after receiving in the memory for future use. Good speakers facilitate storage by doing the followings: Comparing the message with the previous similar messages Highlighting the components of transition in the new message Summarizing and paraphrasing the message  (5) Responding:It is reacting to the content of the message in some fashion. When audience is large, it may take the form of:  Silence Applause Laughter etc

TYPES OF LISTENING : TYPES OF LISTENING Listening can be varied depending upon:  Purpose ,Interaction ,Feedback: It can be classified in to the following three distinct types:  (1) Content listening:The purpose of content listening is to retain the information for future use or for further transmission rather faithfully. Here, we try to identify the key points and concentrate on the structure of the message. Receivers take a preview – an overall view of the entire message. It is not important whether they agree or not with the contents. They try to assimilate the contents of the message as received. For example, a department of the government giving the details of the procedure would expect the public to follow in dealing with them!  (2) Critical listening:The message received undergoes evaluation at several levels to understand: Logic of argument Strength of evidence Validity of conclusions Implications of message for individuals Implications of message for the organization Speakers’ intention and motive Omission of any relevant point etc  Evaluating and absorbing information simultaneously is rather difficult. Listeners’ should reserve their judgement right up to the end. Effort should be made to uncover speakers’ viewpoint.

IMPORTANCE OF ACTIVE LISTENING : IMPORTANCE OF ACTIVE LISTENING ACTIVITY Find time to go and observe political leaders attending public meetings as invitees or chief guests etc. It can be easily observed that they listen to various speeches that precede them very actively and attentively………………………………………… ….  They are very good in remembering names of speakers and the main points of their speeches. When their turn to speak comes, usually as the end of the function, they make a very impressive speech.  All future managers and leaders should resolve to become good listeners. They must exhibit the determination and remain unwavering in becoming good listeners. They should work hard to imbibe the following ‘seven traits’ of good listeners: 1 ‘I’ want to help 2 ‘I’ will not judge 3 ‘I’ am willing to be quiet and listen 4 ‘I’ will be responsive 5 ‘I’ will paraphrase the issue under study 6 ‘I’ will probe without accusing and for better clarity 7 ‘I’ will validate rather than deny the reality

BARRIERS TO GOOD LISTENING : BARRIERS TO GOOD LISTENING Listening is rather very difficult. It is taken for granted by parents, schools, colleges and management institutes. Although the receivers are personally present throughout, most of them are poor listeners. What are the inherent problems in the process of listening and how to overcome these barriers? A few common barriers have been listed below: (1) Environmental barriers.These are: (i) Physical distractions Environmental disturbances come in the way:  Noisy surroundings Loud music Noise of machines, office equipment etc Noise of road traffic including horns of vehicles  (ii) Loud talking :In some cultures people talk rather loudly. Talking loudly by persons nearby can distract a person from hearing others. (iii) Visual distractions:A hoarding or poster on the wall may distract attention and may come in the way of catching an important point of the conversation. Similarly, speakers’ clothes, accessories, make-up like eye shadows etc may distract listeners’ attention.

Slide 10 : (3) Psychological barriers: Beliefs:Audiences’ strong views on religion, politics, business area or even sex may come in the way of their paying attention to the speaker. Individuals’ views impact on their attitude and behaviour. FearIf the subject being talked about is sensitive in nature as it pertains to audiences’ fears, they may cut it off from their hearing. Anger:If a remark by the speaker has made audience angry and upset, it will reduce their ability to absorb the message or they may miss it altogether. Anxiety:State of health of a near or dear one may make one anxious about it while at work and the person may miss some parts of the conversation. (v) Sad memories:While listening to a speech, if someone refers to an incident that has a lot of memories treasured by listeners, it may send them in to a reflective mood and they may miss some parts of conversation.

Slide 11 : Linguistic barriers:Also called semantic barriers, these can block ones’ ability to listen. These are: Use of difficult words and jargons:Some speakers have an affected style of talking – they use difficult words and slang to impress rather than convey the message. Speakers must gift parcel their speech to the level of understanding of the listeners. Speakers’ manners and style:Much of the time, speakers’ manners, appearance and body language are important. Politicians can, sometimes, stoop low and talk narrow, petty issues for winning local sympathy and perhaps votes but a rational listener may block his speech as hallow and worthless. He may block the message completely. Use of words with double meaning and mispronounced words:Some speakers have a poor way of pronouncing with heavy bias of the regional spoken language. This may come in the way of catching the words and phrases correctly.  (iv) Lag time in speech:Some speakers speak very slowly. They take so much time to complete a sentence that listeners find it very difficult to slow down their thought process. They get too much of spare time when their mind flies away to other issues. Keeping focus is a lot more difficult in such cases. (v) Different frame of mind:If speaker’s background and area of specialization is widely different, it may come in the way of understanding the terms and phrases used in the speech. The same words may have different meaning in listeners’ framework; consequently, there may be a gap in the understanding the message received.

Slide 12 : Socio-cultural barriers :A few important ones are: Cultural background is different:Different cultural background leading to different pronunciations and accents for speaking the same words can spoil the delivery of a message. It the recent cricket match series in Australia between the host country and Indian team, there was a piquant situation because ‘bastard’ is an accepted form of communication in Australia and ‘monkey’ is an accepted admonition in any heated personal discussion in India.  (ii) Personal space and public space:Some cultures permit greater personal space than others. If the same is not available even in a not-so-formal interaction, it may upset some. Even the way of addressing in different regions of the same country can create misunderstanding. (For details refer to 18.6 of Unit 18) (iii) Sense of timeExperience confirms that a western visitor from USA or Europe would like to get straight in to business without significant preliminaries beyond wishing one another and getting introduced. However, a typical Asian may start with preliminaries as a warm up and may even prefer to have a cup of tea before coming to the formal part of the agenda. It is said that Japanese like to have a game of golf before sitting for any serious meeting! (For details refer to 18.5 (2) (vi) of Unit 18)

IMPROVING LISTENING SKILLS : IMPROVING LISTENING SKILLS Human ears are, in the modern world, continually bombarded with sounds. People hear these sounds but do not listen to all of them. They should be thankful to God that they cannot because if they do, they shall go mad! As a self-defence mechanism, listeners block off many sounds from their consciousness by tuning them out. Blocking off sounds is a good device as it helps in concentrating on what people want to hear. Unfortunately, they also run the risk of blocking off what they should be listening. They develop such habits so that many a times, they block off even when they are in the company of their best friends. Fortunately such habits can be unlearnt and replaced with good listening habits. Being aware of this deficiency is giving the process of unlearning a good start! Following steps are suggested: Preparing for listeningThis involves the followings: (i) Determining your purpose:Listening is three types – content listening, critical listening and active / empathetic listening. Listening to a lecture in a classroom is content listening; listening to a political debate on TV is critical listening and listening to a speaker in office or small groups, is active / empathetic listening.Each one of these requires different skills and degree of attentiveness as good listeners. At any rate, in order to become good listeners, individuals must understand why they are listening! (ii) Getting ready to listen:Good listening implies a readiness to listen. Individuals have to prepare themselves for listening physically, mentally and emotionally. It means shutting out all distracting sounds and signals, trying to sit nearest to the speaker so that speaker can be seen and heard clearly. Mental preparations give a purpose to listening, leading to emotional involvement in listening.

Slide 14 : (iii) Accepting your share of responsibility:Listeners should share with the speaker the responsibility of communicating rather than behave as if they are daring him to make audience take interest in the subject. In fact, quality of listening improves the quality of speakers’ delivery! Everyone has an innate desire to be listened to. Quality of listening by the audience influences not only the quality of delivery but also the length of speech. (2) Adopting basic rules for good listening:These are: (i) Listening with understanding:Receivers have to listen to the speaker completely and carefully to grasp the ideas. If necessary, they should ask questions for clarifications. They should be sure they understand the message fully. (ii) Listening with an open mind:Mind is like an umbrella – it works only when it is open. Listeners have to forget their biases and prejudices and grasp new ideas even though they may conflict with theirs. The new ideas may change us a bit. Accept the change for it may be for the better. (iii) Listening with attention:Listening means a lot of hard work by them because it implies three things: (a) Concentrating:It means focus should be on what speaker says by cutting out noises and distraction from other sources. It takes both will power and energy. (b) Relating with what is already known:By relating what people listen to with what they already know, they lay the foundation for bringing in the change. Until people learn, they do not change. (c) Reading between the lines:Good listening means reading between the lines i.e., sensing the implications of the message. Good listeners analyze speakers’ choice of words and phrases, observe their postures, facial expressions, tone and pitch of voice, manners, general appearances etc

Slide 15 : Listening with empathy:Good listeners put themselves in speakers’ place. It is making extra effort to understand speakers’ viewpoint. It calls for imagination. Good listeners have to be attentive which is flattering to the speakers. It helps to draw out speakers from their shyness, hostility or suspicion they might have about the audience. (v)Listening intently :Listening intently is a part of good listening. While listening, audience evaluates not only what the speaker says but also how he says it. They listen to the main idea and all the supporting details. They review all the points made and anticipate what speaker is going to say next! They analyze the evidence and finally accept or reject speakers’ conclusions. Good listeners are able not only to listen intently but also reflect on words said in the spare time available (people listen 2 to 3 times faster than the rate at which they speak). Half-hearted listeners or disinterested listeners use the spare time to daydream or turn their attention elsewhere. Good listeners use their spare time to thought processes that are closely related to what the speaker is saying. Such listening results in increased understanding and longer remembering of the message being received. A few tips for using the spare time wisely are: Taking notesUsually speakers share notes that contain the major points of their speech. Good listeners grasp those main points and write them down. (b) Rephrasing and reviewing the message:Good listeners try to retain the message by rephrasing mentally and silently. It is like taking mental notes. By repeated practice of rephrasing, individuals can become better listeners. Similarly, listeners review the main points of the speaker. By using both the methods viz., rephrasing and reviewing, they reinforce their understanding of the subject and remember the main points of the message.

Slide 16 : (c) Detecting bias and determining motives:A biased and prejudiced view is a partial viewpoint. In a firm, sales persons are usually determined to sell and secure the maximum share of the market. This can bring in bias among them. Good listeners should detect this bias and recognize the motive behind it. A good principle for the buyers is to be aware of such trappings in the speakers’ messages.   (3) Practising regularlyThe above rules should be practised regularly so that they become an integral part of ones’ style. Practice alone makes persons perfect.

LISTENING HABITS OF MANAGERS AND LEADERS : LISTENING HABITS OF MANAGERS AND LEADERS There is a distinctive pattern exhibited by different types of listeners. Students must be familiar with these patterns or habits so that they can determine where they belong and determine scope for improvement. They should accomplish the same by setting self-improvement targets. A few major ones have been tabulated below:   Poor Listeners Listening by Managers Listening by Leaders   (1) Tune off dry subjects Explore area of interest Look for opportunity   (2) Shut out poor delivery Judge contents and not Judge contents and skip delivery of speech delivery of speech   (3) Tendency to enter in to Hold his cool Do not judge until last & arguments interrupt only to clarify   (4) Listen to facts Listen to ideas Listen to central theme   (5) Take extensive notes Flexible about taking notes Take fewer notes; make ‘mental’ notes

Slide 18 : (6) Pretend to be attentive Work at listening Work hard at listening   (7) Are distracted easily Resist distraction Fight distraction, tolerate bad speech and know how to concentrate (8) Resist difficult subjects Exercise mind Exercise mind with heavy & seek light material material (9) React to emotional Keep mind open Interpret emotional words words& refuse to get stuck with them (10) Prone to day-dreaming Capitalize the spare time Challenge, anticipate, with slow speakers because of difference in summarize, weigh, listen speeds of delivery and between lines and other thinking clues

TAKING NOTES WHILE LISTENING : TAKING NOTES WHILE LISTENING Good listeners take down notes. However, this note taking should not be done at the cost of listening. If too much of time is spent taking down notes, listeners may miss the heart of the message! A few good tips for taking down notes are:   1 Have adequate paper, a good pen and a pencil or two 2 Use uncluttered backup for support while you take down notes 3 Label your notes for easy identification later 4 Listen to list of cues such as ‘first’, ‘second’ and ‘finally’ or ‘in summary’ so as to catch these details and take down notes accordingly. 5 Flag / mark important parts of notes by using brackets, underscore, arrows etc 6 Listen for special instructions 7 After the speech, go over notes promptly to fix major points more firmly in mind

TEN COMMANDMENTS OF GOOD LISTENING : TEN COMMANDMENTS OF GOOD LISTENING Someone has listed the following ten commandments of good listening:   1 Stop talking 2 Put the talker at ease 3 Show willingness to listen 4 Remove distractions 5 Empathize with speaker 6 Be patient 7 Hold own temper 8 Go easy on arguments and criticism 9 Ask questions 10 Stop talking, once again

Slide 21 : Acknowledgments We wish to acknowledge the people who actively contributed to the writing and delivery of the learning material Author Prof. Manohar L. Gulati Presenter M.Sadiqur Rahman, Fullbright Scholar, Lecturer, Employability Skills & Business Communication A special thanks to the technical support team who were instrumental in the design and implementation of this presentation.

Slide 22 : Contact Details For further information, please contact: IILM Institute for Higher Education 3, Lodhi Institutional Area, Lodhi Road, New Delhi- 110003 Email: learning@iilm.edu Web : www.iilm.edu

Slide 23 : THANK YOU