Active Listening
Often, most Coaches and Trainers spend a lot of time of the
topic of Listening. Why? Have you ever wondered? What is so great about a
simple task like listening? We listen all the time. It does not require much
effort.
Yes! I agree with you that Listening or shall we say hearing
does not take much effort as we have been doing so, for all our lives. But,
there is a huge difference between Hearing and Listening.
There are several misconceptions about listening. The first
of these is listening and hearing are the same thing. Hearing is the
physiological process of registering sound waves as they hit the eardrum. We
have no control over what we hear. The sounds we hear have no meaning until we
give them their meaning in context. Listening on the other hand is an
active process that constructs meaning from both verbal and nonverbal messages.
When we hear, we let the sound waves fall on our ears and we
respond to it depending our mood and focus on that stimulus at the time.
But Active Listening, means we are completely focussed on
what is being said to us either by a person or a medium (audio-machine of some
kind e.g. ipod, radio, tape, etc)
Active Listening is very important especially for those in
professions like, Sales, Legal, Doctors, CAs, etc where the success of your
profession is overly dependent on what your clients are saying verbally. Most
of the inter-personal problems in life also can be avoided, if effective
listening is done by all parties involved (e.g. Boss- Subordinate, Husband-Wife,
Siblings, Father-Son, Friends, etc.). When you do not listen with your entire
focus on the person talking to you, you may miss out on certain important clues
(words or statements), which might be useful to you to effectively do your job
and make a success out of that particular deal.
An active listener is able to listen to the speaker,
analyse, interpret and internalise the information and then suggest a proper
and relevant solution/ outcome for the set objective e.g. sales of your product
etc. An active listener is able to overcome objections effectively and help the
speaker in making a proper and effective decision towards completing the
transaction. The
proper use of active listening results in getting people to open up, avoiding
misunderstandings, resolving conflict, and building trust. In
a medical context, benefits may include increased patient satisfaction, improved cross-cultural communication, improved outcomes, or decreased litigation,
etc.
Barriers to active
listening
All elements of communication, including listening, may be
affected by barriers that can impede the flow of conversation e.g. distractions,
trigger words, vocabulary, and limited attention span.
Listening barriers may be psychological (e.g. emotions) or
physical (e.g. noise and visual distraction). Cultural differences including
speakers' accents, vocabulary, and misunderstandings due to cultural
assumptions often obstruct the listening process.
Frequently, the listener's personal interpretations,
attitudes, biases, and prejudices lead to ineffective communication.
Overcoming
listening barriers
To use this listening technique to improve interpersonal
communication, one puts personal emotions aside during the conversation, asks
questions and repeats back to the speaker to clarify and understand, and also
tries to overcome all types of environment distractions. Judging or arguing
prematurely is a result of holding onto a strict personal opinion. This
hinders the ability to be able to listen closely to what is being said.
Furthermore, the listener considers the speaker's background, both cultural and
personal, to benefit as much as possible from the communication process.
Eye contact and appropriate body languages are seen as
important components to active listening. Effective listening involves focusing
on what the speaker is saying; at times the listener might come across certain
key words which may help them understand the speaker. The stress and
intonation may also keep them active and away from distractions. Taking notes
on the message can aid in retention.
Do Contact us if you want your Sales Team to be more effective in achieving their goals.
Please visit my website www.prashantwelling.com for such
other blogs to follow. Please give your feedback which will be invaluable for
me to effectively communicate with you.
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