Listening Skills

Listening skills are at par with communication skills when it comes to their contribution in delivering a message. Listening allows the complete understanding of what others say and what your response should be to their point of view. Good listening is crucial to build long-lasting relationships.

To be a good listener, you should be able to understand and actively respond to what others are saying.

• It is important to note that at times, people give an answer out of fear or pressure, which is not the answer they would want to give.

• At other times, people don’t respond to issues that they should, either due to hesitation or their callousness.

This is a common occurrence in many communication scenarios, whether they are face-to-face or remote, or whether they are instant or for a longer period in a one-on-one or one-to-many.

So, the mantra is to be as focused as possible while listening to people talking to you. This will help in gaining maximum knowledge about what they are talking and how you can respond when they ask you any questions on their situation.

Core Listening Techniques

Listening skills teaches people to give others your undivided and complete attention. If they are near you, you need to look at them directly and not engage in other distracting activities like checking the phone. A few more important steps that you can do to ensure that people respect you for your listening skills are −

• Try to understand the body language and facial expressions of the people who are speaking to you.

• Always encourage them to speak more by asking them open-ended questions and inquiring.

• Use non-verbal nods like nodding or using facial expressions to show you are genuinely listening.

• Acknowledging their sentiments and echoing their feelings when they are sensitive to a discussion.

• Don’t cloud their speech with judgments; listen to their complete speech before offering any suggestion.

• Don’t interrupt while they are speaking; they might lose the flow and give incomplete information.

• Express opinion if it is not disruptive to a person’s belief system, unless the situation demands it.

In addition to these steps, it is also important to keep your reactions muted and subtle. The person has come to you for help as he trusts you and wants to disclose certain facts of his business to you. Needless to say, it is a difficult time for him. The last thing you would want to do is to start being judgmental, aggressive, confrontational or bossy.