Listening The Neglected Skill

1. Listening The Neglected Skill 1

2. Overview • A definition - What is it ? • The givens - What do we know about it ? • The four levels of listening. • The problems - Why so difficult ? • A few solutions - How can we do better ? 2

3. Communication depends on it Sender Response Topic Receiver Message Medium 3

4. Listening vs Hearing Hearing = physical act of receiving sound = passive process = no effort Listening = selective process = an active process = work (and lots of it ) 4

5. Definition • A selective process of receiving, attending to, understanding, evaluating and responding to aural sounds 5

6. What do we know about it ? • Listening is the most usedof all communication skills • Listening is the least developedof all communication skills • Listening training improveslistening ability 6

7. The most usedCommunication Skill • Rankin (1926) - adults spend 70% of day communicating • Writing = 9% Speaking = 30% • Reading = 16% Listening = 45% • Barker (1981) - college students spend • Writing = 14% Speaking = 16% • Reading = 17% Listening = 53% • Keefe (1971) - executives spend 57% of day listening • Steil (1981) - executives spend 63% of day listening 7

8. Failure to listen is costly • Lyman Steil, a corporate consultant said in 1980, “With more than 100 million workers in this country, a simple $10 mistake by each, as the result of poor listening, would add up to a cost of $1 billion, and most people make numerous listening mistakes each week” • Dispatcher of a large trucking firm sends 8 trucks to Portland, Oregon instead of Portland, Maine “$100,000 loss” 8

9. The least developed Communication Skill LS RW • Learned 1st 2nd 3rd 4th • Used 45% 30% 16% 9% • Taught least 3rd 2nd most (4th) (1st) 9

10. Four Levels Of Listening • Nonlistener • Marginal listener • Evaluative listener • Active Listener 10

11. Why so difficult ? • Uninteresting topics • Speaker’s delivery • Overstimulation by the message • Listening for facts • Outlining everything 11

12. Why so difficult ? • Faking attention • Distractions • Avoiding the difficult • Emotional words • Wasting the speed differential 12

13. A five step process • Receiving - starts with a sound • Attending to - paying attention to the sound • Understanding - assigning meaning to what you hear • Evaluating - agreeing or disagreeing • Responding - action (verbal or non-verbal) 13

14. Steps to better listening • Be conscious of your listening behavior • Motivate yourself to listen • Prepare yourself to listen • Control your reactions • Work at listening • Listen for ideas • Concentrate on the message 14

15. Training improves listening skills • 1988 Fortune 500 survey found • 52% of companies responding offered listening training • Listening ranked 8th among 41 issues • Training Magazine lists 200 sources of listening training • Sperry Corporation - Slogan is “We understand the importance of listening.” • Paul Lyet - former CEO of Sperry Corporation “effective listening has been an important part of our success ... it pays dividends” 15

16. The Neglected Skill • Definition • Facts about listening • Four levels of listening. • Problems • Solutions 16

17. ClosureListening: The Neglected Skill “When you talk you repeat what you already know; when you listen, you often learn something.” Jaren Sparks 17