1. Listening “Seek first to understand… Then to be understood.”
(Covey, 1997)

2. Listening is not a communication action, it is a human action.
Understanding how to listen effectively
is an essential skill that benefits
everything from family life to business.
Survey of personnel managers:
Listening is most critical skill for working effectively in teams.
Group members view people who listen well as good leaders.

3. Introduction and Overview
What listening IS NOT:
Hearing vs. Listening
Faulty listening behaviors
Reasons for poor listening

4. What listening IS: Stages of successful listening
Pages 113, 114
Personal listening styles
Pages 123, 124
Informational listening
Pages

5. What Listening IS NOT Hearing vs. Listening: Hearing: Listening:
“Sounds waves strike the ear drum and cause vibrations that are transmitted to the brain.”
Automatic and effortless
Listening:
“The brain gives the sounds meaning.”
Unnatural, requires effort

6. Faulty listening behaviors
Pseudo listening:
Imitation or fake listening.
Pretending to listen.
Selective listening:
Responding only to the parts of a speakers remarks that interest the receiver and rejecting everything else.
Defensive listening:
Taking innocent comments as personal attacks.

7. Faulty Listening, cont. Ambushing: Insulated listening:
Using listening skills to collect information to use for an attack on the speaker.
Insulated listening:
Avoiding a particular topic.
Insensitive listening:
Unable to look beyond words for other meanings.

8. Faulty listening, cont. Stage Hogging:
Attempting to turn the conversation to oneself.

9. Reasons for Poor Listening
Requires Effort: listening is hard; it is not natural
Message overload
Rapid thought
Psychological noise
Physical noise

10. Reasons for Poor Listening, cont.
Hearing problems
Faulty assumptions
Cultural differences
Media

11. What Listening IS: Listening Defined
Listening: Occurs when the brain gives the sound transmitted meaning.
Listening is not like breathing
It is unnatural
It requires effort

12. What Listening IS: Stages of Successful Listening
1. Attending:
Paying attention to a signal
2. Understanding:
Process of making sense of a message
3. Responding:
Giving observable feedback to the speaker
Shows you care - verbal and nonverbal
4. Remembering
Residual Message: What is remembered
Only 25% of original message after two months

13. Personal Listening Styles
Content-Oriented:
Interested in the quality of the message.
This style is useful when looking at a wide range of perspectives and options.
People-oriented:
Concerned with creating and maintaining positive relationships

14. Personal Listening Styles, cont.
Action-Oriented:
Concerned with the task at hand.
Useful for business needs.
Time-oriented:
Most concerned with efficiency.

15. Informational Listening
Used when one wants to understand another person.
The goal is to receive the same thoughts that the other person is trying to convey.

16. Informational Listening, cont.
Don’t Argue or Judge Prematurely
Listen to the other person first
Try to understand his/her viewpoint
Evaluate
Argue or agree

17. Informational Listening, cont.
Separate the message from the speaker
“Don’t kill the messenger”
There may be truth in the message even from an undesirable messenger.

18. Informational Listening, cont.
Be open to finding a gold nugget
Look for the big ideas and main points
Ask questions
Open ended - Require an explanation
Closed - “Yes” or “No”
Paraphrase:
Restate in your own words what you believe that the speaker said.
Take notes

19. Critical Listening
Judging the quality of a message and deciding to accept or reject it.
1. Listen for information first
2. Evaluate the speakers credibility
- check the source
3. Examine evidence and reasoning
4. Remove emotion

20. Empathetic Listening Stages of listening (Covey, 1997) Ignoring
Pretend listening
Selective listening
Attentive listening
Empathic listening:
The first step to understand someone

21. Empathetic Listening
The goal is to build a relationship or help solve a problem.
This style of listening has the most respect for the other’s point of view.

22. Empathetic Listening Ways to practice empathetic listening:
1. Advising:
Offering suggestions
2. Judging:
Looking for constructive judgments
3. Analyzing:
Interpreting the speaker’s message

23. Empathic Listening, cont.
4. Questioning:
Helps sort out problems
5. Supporting responses
6. Prompting:
The goal is to help the speaker draw conclusions for him/herself
7. Paraphrasing:
Restating in your words what you think is the speaker’s message.

24. Helping - When and How Choose the best helping style based on:
Situation based on what the person needs:
Advice
Encouragement and support
Your analysis or judgment
Probing questions and paraphrasing to help him/her find own answers

25. Helping - When and How Choose the best helping style based on:
The other person’s most likely reaction to your help. Some people:
Appreciate direct advice
Want you to make the decision for them
Are defensive and aren’t capable of receiving analysis or judgments. They lash out and want to “kill the messenger.”
Can’t think through the problems clearly even with the use of probing and paraphrasing.

26. Summary Five Step Process Identify and refute myths about listening
Conclusion: Effective listening is a necessary skill to be successful
Five Step Process
1. Hearing
2. Attending
3. Understanding
4. Responding
5. Remembering

27. Summary continued Ineffective types of listening Pseudo Selective
Defensive
Ambushing
Insulated
Insensitive
Stage Hogging

28. Summary continued Challenges that make effective listening difficult
Effort
Message (Information) Overload
Rapid Thought
Psychological Noise
Physical Noise
Hearing Problems

29. Summary continued Challenges that make effective listening difficult
Wanting to talk more than to listen
Cultural differences
Media influences

30. Summary continued Personal Listening Styles Content-Oriented
Evaluate the quality of ideas
People-Oriented
Creating and maintaining positive relationships
Action-Oriented
Want to decide what response is required by a message
Time-Oriented
Efficiency, Meeting deadlines

31. Summary continued Three types of listening 1. Informational
Goal: Understand another person’s ideas
Use active listening P & P
2. Critical
Goal: Judge the quality of an idea
3. Empathic
Goal: Help the speaker, not the receiver