Type of communication Percent of time
Writing 11
Reading 15
Speaking 32
Listening 42
We spend more time listening than we spend at any other method of communicating. College students
averaged 53 percent of their waking hours listening. Of the four communicating behaviors—speaking,
writing, listening and reading—listening was second only to reading as the least arousing of the four
activities. Listening is like physical fitness or wearing seat belts. Everybody knows it is desirable but
finds it difficult to do on a regular basis. Most of us are unable to give close attention to what’s being said
for more than sixty seconds at a time.
Listening is an active pursuit. It’s demanding, hard work. Most of all, when someone is truly listening, it
takes time away from the listener’s most important focus—himself.
Listening goes beyond hearing. It involves making a conscious effort to hear, to give heed, take advice.
Listening is the process by which spoken language is converted to meaning in the mind.
Applying listening to business it is the conscious, active process of eliciting information, ideas, attitudes,
and emotions in interpersonal, oral exchange for the purpose of increasing the listener’s capacity or
planning and decision-making.
Involving your listeners in what you have to say is the key to effective communication. The speaker and
the listeners are interrelated. An effective listener therefore must assume some of the responsibility for
effective communication. Good listeners become good communicators, and skillful listeners learn from
others. Good listeners exert a positive effect on a speaker, helping to improve the speaker’s effectiveness.
Listening
When listening is mentioned, we think primarily of the act of sensing sounds. In human communication,
of course, the sounds are mainly spoken words.
Listening perceives sounds from the speaker, attaching meaning to the words, and designing an
appropriate response, which involves remembering what the speaker has said long enough to interpret
what, is meant. Listening involves grasping what the speaker means by seeing the ideas and information
from his/her point of view.
Listening is an active search for meaning. In listening, two people are thinking, sender and the
receiver. Truly effective communication can’t be a monologue in which only the sender is at work. To
persuade, inform, or change the listener, both parties—the speaker and the receiver (be it one or many)—
must be actively involved. So true communication must be a dialogue, an exchange between you and your
receiver. Two (or more) people actively engaged in the same period.
The Process of Listening
1. Receiving/Hearing
The first element in the listening process is hearing, which is the automatic psychological process of
receiving aural stimuli.Sound waves are received by the ear and stimulate neurological impulses to the brain. We place these
sounds in a meaningful order or sequence so that they may be recognized as words. We recognize words
in a pattern that constitutes a language, which then helps to convey the message from the communicator
to us.
Another factor in hearing is the speaker’s rate. The average speaker’s rate is between 100 to 150 words
per minute. However most of us are able to comprehend rates up to 400 to 500 words per minute.
Hearing is something that just happens when you open your ears or when you get within earshot of some
auditory stimuli.
Unlike listening, hearing begins and ends with this first stage of receiving. Listening begins (but does not
end) with receiving the messages the speaker sends. The messages are both verbal and nonverbal.
The English language retains two words which depict a similar auditory function: hearing and listening.
Hearing is the faculty of perceiving sounds. It is believed to be the first active sensory organ in human
beings, even before birth: it has been established that babies in the womb hear external sounds as early as
the fifth month. Interestingly enough, hearing seems to be the last sense to cease its activity before death,
and there are many examples of dying people who although cannot speak or see anymore, can still hear
what is being said to, or around, them. The fact that hearing is the first and last of our senses may induce
us to ask ourselves whether there is a specific reason why this is so. Indeed, it would seem rather logical
to interpret this as a natural circumstance that must have some significance for our cognitive system.
The fact that we are hearing does not necessarily imply that we are listening. If hearing may be defined as
the physiological function of our auditory sense, e.g. that we all have the possibility of physically
detecting the sounds of our environment, listening may be depicted as the psychological attribute which is
in action when we want to discern the sounds heard. Listening is, therefore, hearing the sounds of our
environment and responding to them actively. For this reason the definition of 'Listening Skills' implies a
cognitive approach to all the kinds of sounds we hear in our daily surroundings.
As we become increasingly familiar with the notion that listening, unlike hearing, implies an active
response to the sounds we hear around us, a new cognitive dimension opens up for us. We may begin to
realize the importance of such a skill in everyday life and the need to find new ways to promote it
effectively. Furthermore, by extending this awareness towards all auditory sources in our environments an
authentic revelation may take place in our life. Our cities, fields, woods are an immense source of all
possible kind of sounds, most of which we have never discerned before.
2. Filtering.
Filtering is the process of giving symbols meanings through the unique contents of each person’s mind.
3. Understanding.
Writing 11
Reading 15
Speaking 32
Listening 42
We spend more time listening than we spend at any other method of communicating. College students
averaged 53 percent of their waking hours listening. Of the four communicating behaviors—speaking,
writing, listening and reading—listening was second only to reading as the least arousing of the four
activities. Listening is like physical fitness or wearing seat belts. Everybody knows it is desirable but
finds it difficult to do on a regular basis. Most of us are unable to give close attention to what’s being said
for more than sixty seconds at a time.
Listening is an active pursuit. It’s demanding, hard work. Most of all, when someone is truly listening, it
takes time away from the listener’s most important focus—himself.
Listening goes beyond hearing. It involves making a conscious effort to hear, to give heed, take advice.
Listening is the process by which spoken language is converted to meaning in the mind.
Applying listening to business it is the conscious, active process of eliciting information, ideas, attitudes,
and emotions in interpersonal, oral exchange for the purpose of increasing the listener’s capacity or
planning and decision-making.
Involving your listeners in what you have to say is the key to effective communication. The speaker and
the listeners are interrelated. An effective listener therefore must assume some of the responsibility for
effective communication. Good listeners become good communicators, and skillful listeners learn from
others. Good listeners exert a positive effect on a speaker, helping to improve the speaker’s effectiveness.
Listening
When listening is mentioned, we think primarily of the act of sensing sounds. In human communication,
of course, the sounds are mainly spoken words.
Listening perceives sounds from the speaker, attaching meaning to the words, and designing an
appropriate response, which involves remembering what the speaker has said long enough to interpret
what, is meant. Listening involves grasping what the speaker means by seeing the ideas and information
from his/her point of view.
Listening is an active search for meaning. In listening, two people are thinking, sender and the
receiver. Truly effective communication can’t be a monologue in which only the sender is at work. To
persuade, inform, or change the listener, both parties—the speaker and the receiver (be it one or many)—
must be actively involved. So true communication must be a dialogue, an exchange between you and your
receiver. Two (or more) people actively engaged in the same period.
The Process of Listening
1. Receiving/Hearing
The first element in the listening process is hearing, which is the automatic psychological process of
receiving aural stimuli.Sound waves are received by the ear and stimulate neurological impulses to the brain. We place these
sounds in a meaningful order or sequence so that they may be recognized as words. We recognize words
in a pattern that constitutes a language, which then helps to convey the message from the communicator
to us.
Another factor in hearing is the speaker’s rate. The average speaker’s rate is between 100 to 150 words
per minute. However most of us are able to comprehend rates up to 400 to 500 words per minute.
Hearing is something that just happens when you open your ears or when you get within earshot of some
auditory stimuli.
Unlike listening, hearing begins and ends with this first stage of receiving. Listening begins (but does not
end) with receiving the messages the speaker sends. The messages are both verbal and nonverbal.
The English language retains two words which depict a similar auditory function: hearing and listening.
Hearing is the faculty of perceiving sounds. It is believed to be the first active sensory organ in human
beings, even before birth: it has been established that babies in the womb hear external sounds as early as
the fifth month. Interestingly enough, hearing seems to be the last sense to cease its activity before death,
and there are many examples of dying people who although cannot speak or see anymore, can still hear
what is being said to, or around, them. The fact that hearing is the first and last of our senses may induce
us to ask ourselves whether there is a specific reason why this is so. Indeed, it would seem rather logical
to interpret this as a natural circumstance that must have some significance for our cognitive system.
The fact that we are hearing does not necessarily imply that we are listening. If hearing may be defined as
the physiological function of our auditory sense, e.g. that we all have the possibility of physically
detecting the sounds of our environment, listening may be depicted as the psychological attribute which is
in action when we want to discern the sounds heard. Listening is, therefore, hearing the sounds of our
environment and responding to them actively. For this reason the definition of 'Listening Skills' implies a
cognitive approach to all the kinds of sounds we hear in our daily surroundings.
As we become increasingly familiar with the notion that listening, unlike hearing, implies an active
response to the sounds we hear around us, a new cognitive dimension opens up for us. We may begin to
realize the importance of such a skill in everyday life and the need to find new ways to promote it
effectively. Furthermore, by extending this awareness towards all auditory sources in our environments an
authentic revelation may take place in our life. Our cities, fields, woods are an immense source of all
possible kind of sounds, most of which we have never discerned before.
2. Filtering.
Filtering is the process of giving symbols meanings through the unique contents of each person’s mind.
3. Understanding.
understanding is the stage at which you learn what the speaker means.
4. Remembering.
Messages that you receive and understand need to be retained fro at lease some period of time. What you
remember is actually not what was said, but what you think (or remember) was said. Memory for speech
is not reproductive. Rather, memory is reconstructive.
5. Evaluating.
Evaluating consists of judging the messages in some way. At times you may try to evaluate the speakers’
underlying intent. Often this evaluation process goes on without much conscious thought. Evaluation is
more in the nature of critical analysis.
6. Responding
Responding occurs in two phases:
i. Responses you make while the speaker is talking.
4. Remembering.
Messages that you receive and understand need to be retained fro at lease some period of time. What you
remember is actually not what was said, but what you think (or remember) was said. Memory for speech
is not reproductive. Rather, memory is reconstructive.
5. Evaluating.
Evaluating consists of judging the messages in some way. At times you may try to evaluate the speakers’
underlying intent. Often this evaluation process goes on without much conscious thought. Evaluation is
more in the nature of critical analysis.
6. Responding
Responding occurs in two phases:
i. Responses you make while the speaker is talking.
ii. Responses you make after the speaker has stopped talking.
These responses are feedback. E.g. “I see”, “yes”, “uh-huh” etc. etc.
These responses are feedback. E.g. “I see”, “yes”, “uh-huh” etc. etc.
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