Listening is very important aspect of communication. Around 20% of overall communication is listening. Therefore, one should strive for adopting good listening habit. There are following guidelines for good listening:
- Preparation before listening :
- Listening to understand, not to refute.
- Focusing the attention.
- Concentration on context.
- Taking notes.
- Curbing the impulse to interrupt.
- Asking questions.
- Summary & evaluation.
The details of each point are as follows:
1. Preparation before listening:-
As already mentioned that listening plays important role in communication. So one should prepare himself before starting listening. In preparation, there are following guidelines:
- Stop talking:– Human brain can perform one activity efficiently at a time, so during listening there should be no talking by the listener
- Remove distraction:– Noisy fan, traffic noise, entrance of unauthorized persons may interrupt the listening process. All these barriers should be removed.
- Good environmental conditions:- There should not be extraordinary cold or warm environment and ventilation should be proper.
2. Listening to understand, not to refute:-
There could be many topics to which the listener has reservations. Apart from these reservations, the listener should try his best to understand the message.
3. Focusing the attention:-
There may be many objects on which the listener should construct a mental outline of where the speaker is going in his speech.
4. Concentration on context:-
The listener should keep in mind the background and theme of speech. This thing enables him to absorb the material quickly and efficiently.
5. Taking notes:-
Listener should keep on taking notes. Hence, he should jot down ideas rather than sentences. In this way, he/she could make the message safe for a long time.
6. Curbing the impulse to interrupt:-
One should avoid interrupting the speech until the speaker invites questions. This habit puts the speaker and listener both at ease.
7. Asking questions:-
Asking right question on right time is quite different form interruption. Listener should have an idea to know right time to ask questions.
8. Summary & evaluation:-
The listener should summarize and speech but not during listening process.