Business Communication| Essentials for Good Listening

ESSENTIALS FOR GOOD LISTENING:

Listening is a skill that need to be mastered. Everyone cannot be a good listener. Once of the primary essentials for developing good listening skills is cultivation of a positive attitude. It is difficult to listen objectively to what the order person is saying if listening begins on a negative note. A positive inclination enables the receiver to be open to the suggestions and statement made by the sender. A closed mind and unwillingness to listen to reason or ideas the suggest a deviation form the norm, lead to an unreceptive attitude.

POSITIVE ATTITUDE

Developing a positive stance alone will not suffice. It needs to be coupled with the ability to concentrate. The mind possess tremendous capacity to swing in more than one direction. Control needs to be exercised to prevent mental moves in warranted directions. The entire process can be compared to meditation. The same degree of rigor and concentration needs to be applied. There is a scientific reason behind errors that crop up at he time of communication. The speaking capacity of an individual is approximately 180 to 250 words per minute. The capacity of the individual to process words is approximately 400 to 600 words per minute. If there is a small deviation or digression either on the part of the sender to the listener, the mind takes leap. By the time it resumes its original position, the sender has already transmitted a major chunk of his message. Hence arise errors in communication leading to what is commonly referred to as “miscommunication”. If by extreme discipline the receiver can train himself to listen attentively, these errors would be minimized.

ENTER INTO QUESTION-ANSWER SESSIONS

However, these could be instances when the mind gets exhausted and stops paying attention. In such instances  prudent move would be to indulge in question-answer  sequences. When a recipient directly asks  a question, the normal tendency of the sender it is very difficult for the mind to stray. Eyes revel as well as conceal a lot. If the eyes are subject to the scrutiny of the sender, it is very difficult for the listener to doze off or stay. This strategy is a very useful one as it stalls error in the listening process.

CONDUCTIVE BODY POSTURE

The body language at the time of listening should also be conductive to the communication process. Leaning back or sitting slumped in the chair is gestures through which the listener is distancing himself from the sender. If an upright position or a slight lean in the chair could be sported automatically receiver would be lessening the distance between himself and the encoder. Chances are high that there would be improvement in his listening.

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