Apply Your Best Listening Skills Chapter Three Apply Your Best Listening Skills

Hearing differs from listening Hearing is a purely physiological activity Listening involves the physiological process, but it also involves the psychological processing of the sounds

Three factors complicate the listening process Internal elements Environmental elements Interactional elements

Internal elements include Ability to receive the sounds produced by another speaker Referents for the sounds being produced

Environmental elements include Our individual listening capacity The presence of noise The use, or misuse, of gatekeepers

Interactional elements include Self-centeredness Self-protection

To be a better listener, avoid poor listening behaviors

Faking attention The “wide asleep listener” Eyes on speaker, mind elsewhere Automatic nodding Commit yourself to the conversation

Changing channels Tuning out Switching between the speaker and your own thoughts Be patient and listen

Listening only for facts Listen for feelings, impressions, and emotions Listen for what they are not saying People buy based on emotions and feelings Go beyond the facts and words

Interrupting/Impatience We want the speaker to get to the point We interrupt for clarification We want information immediately Be patient and wait for the speaker to finish

To improve listening effectiveness, take positive steps to better listening

Solicit clarification Clarify tactfully Don’t figure it out on your own Don’t guess or interpret Don’t worry about sounding uninformed Take the time and make the effort to understand

Use counter-attitudinal advocacy (CAA) Take the other person’s position Restate the position that is counter to your own Defend that position Ask if your interpretation is correct If not, try again

Of all the sources of information we have when dealing with customers, listening is the most important.