Being able to listen appropriately is an essential part of communication. When you have listening skills, you can improve relationships, make decisions more effectively and reach agreements with other people fast. When it comes to business, listening well enables a company to operate efficiently with the information they are given.
How to Improve Listening Skills
Visualize what the other person is saying. To help retain information, try to conjure up mental images of what the other person is talking about as you are listening. This will help you to remember keywords and phrases when you listen for long hours. Visualizing will also help you to not prepare for what to say next. In case you lose focus, make sure to refocus immediately.
Empathize with the speaker. Empathy is essential to enhance your listening skills. You should mirror the emotions the speaker has. For instance, if their face conveys sadness or joy then your facial expressions and words should also convey similar emotions. Empathizing with the speaker takes concentration, but it also allows for open communication and establishes relationships.
Maintain eye contact. When you are listening to someone talk, you should avoid texting, looking out a window, scrolling through your mobile phone, or scanning a computer screen. Limit any unnecessary distractions, provide the speaker with your undivided attention and look at them directly. This provides them with a nonverbal cue that you are interested in what they are saying, encouraging them to continue expressing themselves.
The speaker may not look at you because they might feel uncertain, shy, or their culture may not use direct eye contact for communication. You should continue to face the speaker even if they do not look at you. That is part of good listening skills.
Do not interrupt. If someone is delivering their message slowly, try to cultivate patience and wait for them to finish. Everyone speaks and processes information at different rates. Interrupting sends the wrong message to the speaker. It may suggest that what you are saying is more important, and you do not care about what they are saying, or worse, that the conversation is a competition. It is also crucial to refrain from offering solutions. But, if you have a brilliant idea, you may consider asking if you can share your ideas first.
Ask clarifying questions. This helps keep the conversation on the topic. With proper listening skills, you only want to ask questions that pertain to your understanding instead of asking questions about something that is not related to the main idea. When you ask clarifying questions without interrupting, it shows that you are listening, paying attention and willing to discuss things further.
You can practice your listening skills by being
aware of what you do or react when someone is talking to you. After an
in-person interaction with someone, write down what you heard, and understood.
You may listen to audio books and podcasts without any text in front of you, or
attend workshops about it. This will help you to become more aware of your role
as a receiver of information, improving your communication skills.
Comments
Post a Comment