Listening skill is the ability to pay attention to and effectively interpret what other people are saying.
There is a big difference between hearing and listening. The ability to hear is inborn but the ability to listen is a skill that must be learnt.
Listening begins with hearing. You will have to learn how to pay attention to what you hear and conscious effort on how to process what you heard.
Listening skill is cogent or key to an effective communication.
There are three (3) basic listening types:
➤Combative listening
➤Passive listening
➤Active listening
➤ Combative Listening : This type of listening happens when we are more interested in promoting our own opinion than listening to someone else opinion. We pretend to be listening but we have closed our minds.
➤ Passive Listening : In this type of listening, we are genuinely interested in what others are saying and we understood their opinion or message but we don't verify the validity.
➤ Active Listening : This is the most important one. In this type of listening, we are really interested in understanding what other person is saying and we participate actively in the conversation.
Conditions for Effective listening:
➤ Maintain eye contact with the speaker
➤ Do not prepare an attack ahead.
➤ Limit distractions.
➤ Pay attention to what's being said and not what you want to say.
➤ Provide feedbacks.
➤ Treat listening as a challenging mental task.
In every relationship, communication is the key that keeps the bonds. Listening skill helps to understand the message being passed accross. Learn to be an active listener!
