BUSINESS ENGLISH

UNIT – 1
WEEK -1

INTRODUCTION TO LISTENING SKILLS

There are four skills of language learning, LSRW.
L- Listening
S- Speaking
R- Reading
W – Writing

Skill – Ability to do something well, especially because of training or practice is known as skills.
Often this sequence of LSWR is questioned by reader. The reason this sequence is followed is that
it is the natural process to acquire any language. Language is never learnt rather it is acquired. If
one wants to acquire a language, he/she should follow a natural way of learning things. As a child,
we ‘listen to” the language spoken around us during the initial years. After that we repeat (speak)
in broken words and sentence for a couple of years. At the next stage we ‘read’ some illustrated
books. During these initial years even alphabets are given to be memorized in the form of pictures.
It is only in the last and fourth stage that we learn to ‘write’. Thus, to say, L-S-R-W is the natural
way of acquiring language.
Listening is one of the most important but often underemphasized aspect of good communication.
It can be most powerful tool in the workplace for the growth. It requires intention, time and
patience. One of the most famous writer Ernest Hemingway says
“When people talk listen completely. Don’t be thinking what you’re going to say. Most people
never listen”
This one quote is important enough to understand how important the skill of listening is in the
process of effective communication.
Definition of listening:-
Listening is a process of receiving, interpreting and reacting to the messages received from the
communication sender.

The process of listening does not stops at the receiving the sound but the sound has to be decoded
in to meaning words and has to be assessed for meaningful message sent by the sender.
LISTENING PROCESS
Effective listening is an extremely important life skill. The process of listening involves five
stages:

Receiving

Understanding

Remembering

Evaluating

Responding

It is essential for an effective listener to hear and identify the speech sounds which is
directed towards them, decode the message of those sounds, critically evaluate or assess that
message, remember what has been said, and respond either verbally or non-verbally to the
information which they have received. The information is best gathered when we effectively
engage ourselves to all five stages of the listening process.

Receiving

Receiving is the intentional focus on hearing a speaker’s message, which happens when
we filter out other sources so that we can isolate the message and avoid the confusing mixture of
incoming stimuli. At this stage, we are still only hearing the message.

In the listening process along with hearing, paying attention to what we hear becomes
essential. Paying attention is the process where we accurately identify and correctly interpret
particular sounds which we hear as words. The sounds which our ears hear have no meaning until
we give them their meaning in context. Listening is an active process that forms meaning from
both verbal and nonverbal messages. Many times message is spoken via body language without
uttering a word. An active listener would be able to listen to those nonverbal cues too.

For example:

One of the authors recalls attending a political rally for a presidential candidate at which about five
thousand people were crowded into an outdoor amphitheater. When the candidate finally started
speaking, the cheering and yelling was so loud that the candidate couldn’t be heard easily despite
using a speaker system. In this example, the coauthor had difficulty receiving the message because
of the external noise. This is only one example of the ways that hearing alone can require sincere
effort, but you must hear the message before you can continue the process of listening.
Understanding

The second stage in the process of listening is understanding. Understanding or

comprehension means shared meaning between parties in a communication transaction and it
constitutes second step in the process of listening. In the understanding stage, we attempt to learn
the meaning of the message, which is not always easy. During this stage listeners are expected to
determine the context and meaning of individual words and assigning meaning in language is
essential to understand sentences. Thus, this step in the process of listening is essential in order to
understand the message spoken by the speaker.

Different accent can act as a hurdle in proper understanding of the message. If the speaker and
listener follow different accent then it gives rise to trouble in understanding each other. Noise is
another factor which acts as a hurdle in proper understanding the message properly. If space where
communication is happening is extremely noisy then it would become very difficult for the speaker
to pass on the message to the listener properly. Even when we have understood the words in a
message, because of the differences in our backgrounds and experience, we sometimes make the
mistake of attaching our own meanings to the words of others.

For example:

Suppose you have made plans with your friends to meet at a certain movie theater, but you arrive
and nobody else shows up. Eventually you find out that your friends are at a different theater all
the way across town where the same movie is playing. Everyone else understood that the meeting
place was the “west side” location, but you wrongly understood it as the “east side” location and
therefore missed out on part of the fun.

The consequences of ineffective listening in a classroom can be much worse. When your professor
advises students to get an “early start” on your speech, he or she probably hopes that you will begin
your research right away and move on to developing a thesis statement and outlining the speech
as soon as possible. However, students in your class might misunderstand the instructor’s meaning
in several ways. One student might interpret the advice to mean that as long as she gets started, the
rest of the assignment will have time to develop itself. Another student might instead think that to
start early is to start on the Friday before the Monday due date instead of Sunday night.

There are so many ways in which, what we understand of others, is influenced by our own
perceptions and experiences. Therefore, at the understanding stage of listening we should be on
the lookout for places where our perceptions might differ from those of the speaker .

Asking question always helps in avoiding any kind of misunderstanding. It is one of the best tactic
which can be acquired for better understanding of the message passed on by the speaker. Asking
questions helps in filling any hole which listener might have in the mental reconstruction of the
speaker’s message.
Remembering

This is the third stage in the process of listening. Remembering begins with listening, if we
are incapable of remembering something that had been said, then we might not have been listening
effectively. One of the most common reason for not remembering a message after the fact is
because it wasn’t really learned in the first place. However, even when we are listening attentively,
some messages are more difficult than others to understand and remember. Highly complex
messages that are filled with detail call for highly developed listening skills. Moreover, if
something distracts our attention even for a moment, we could miss out on information that
explains other new concepts we hear when we begin to listen fully again.

It’s also important to know that we can improve our memory of a message by processing it
meaningfully—that is, by applying it in ways that are meaningful to us.

For example:

Instead of simply repeating a new acquaintance’s name over and over, we might remember it by
associating it with something in our own life. “Emily,” you might say, “reminds me of the Emily
I knew in middle school,” or “Mr. Impiari’s name reminds me of the Impala my father drives.”

Finally, if understanding has been inaccurate, recollection of the message will be inaccurate

Evaluating

The fourth stage in the listening process is evaluating, or judging the value of the message.
We might be thinking, “This makes sense” or, conversely, “This is very odd.” Because everyone
embodies biases and perspectives learned from widely diverse sets of life experiences, evaluations
of the same message can vary widely from one listener to another. Even the most open-minded
listeners will have opinions of a speaker, and those opinions will influence how the message is
evaluated. People are more likely to evaluate a message positively if the speaker speaks clearly,
presents ideas logically, and gives reasons to support the points made.

During the stage of evaluation, the listener arbitrates if the information which the listener
has heard and understood from the speaker is well constructed or if it is disorganized, if it is biased
or unbiased, whether the information is true or false, if the information holds any significance or
is it completely insignificant. They also verify that how and why the speaker has come up with the
message and how it has been delivered. This may have a huge involvement of consideration of a
speaker’s personal or professional motivations and goals.

Unfortunately, personal opinions sometimes result in prejudiced evaluations. Imagine you’re

listening to a speech given by someone from another country and this person has an accent that is
hard to understand. You may have a hard time simply making out the speaker’s message. Some
people find a foreign accent to be interesting or even exotic, while others find it annoying or even
take it as a sign of ignorance. If a listener has a strong bias against foreign accents, the listener may
not even attempt to attend to the message. If you mistrust a speaker because of an accent, you
could be rejecting important or personally enriching information. Good listeners have learned to
refrain from making these judgments and instead to focus on the speaker’s meanings.

For example:-

A listener may determine a coworker’s negligence in cleaning off their table or keeping the place
dirty as his/her inconsiderate behavior or the listener could understand that the coworker’s child is
sick and thus he/she might be on the edge to even realize the condition of the table or the place.
So here the motivation or goal plays a huge role in understanding the unspoken message

A voter who listens to the speech made my politician can decide on the basis of the promises made
whether to vote for him/her or not. The points made were convincing enough to earn the vote or if
it were just fake promises.

The evaluating stage occurs most effectively once the listener fully understands what the speaker
is trying to say. Sometimes as a listener we form opinions of information and ideas even if we
don’t understand it completely or sometimes we completely misunderstand the message delivered
by the speaker which is not ideal. We must have a clear understanding of the speaker’s message
as it allows us to evaluate the message without getting bogged down in ambiguities. It helps in
saving time and energy during addressing a point which might be tangential or even nonessential.

Responding

The responding stage is the stage of the listening process in which the listener provides
verbal and/or nonverbal reactions. A listener can respond to what they hear either verbally or non-
verbally. Nonverbal signals can include gestures such as nodding, making eye contact, tapping a
pen, fidgeting, scratching or cocking their head, smiling, rolling their eyes, grimacing, or any other
body language. These kinds of responses can be displayed purposefully or involuntarily.
Responding verbally might involve asking a question, requesting additional information,
redirecting or changing the focus of a conversation, cutting off a speaker, or repeating what a
speaker has said back to her in order to verify that the received message matches the intended
message.

Nonverbal responses like nodding or eye contact allow the listener to communicate their
level of interest without interrupting the speaker, thereby preserving the speaker/listener roles.
When a listener responds verbally to what they hear and remember—for example, with a question
or a comment—the speaker/listener roles are reversed, at least momentarily.

Responding adds action to the listening process. Oftentimes, the speaker looks for verbal
and nonverbal responses from the listener to determine if and how their message is being
understood and/or considered. Based on the listener’s responses, the speaker can choose to either
adjust or continue with the delivery of her message. For example, if a listener’s brow is furrowed
and their arms are crossed, the speaker may determine that she needs to lighten their tone to better
communicate their point. If a listener is smiling and nodding or asking questions, the speaker may
feel that the listener is engaged and her message is being communicated effectively.

Responding sometimes is referred as feedback and is the fifth and final stage of the
listening process. It’s the stage at which you indicate your involvement. Almost anything you do
at this stage can be interpreted as feedback.

For example:

Positive feedback to the instructor would be, if at the end of class you stay behind to finish a
sentence in your notes or approach the instructor to ask for clarification. The opposite kind of
feedback is given by students who gather their belongings and rush out the door as soon as class
is over.

Formative Feedback

Not all response occurs at the end of the message. Formative feedback is a natural part of the
ongoing transaction between a speaker and a listener. As the speaker delivers the message, a
listener signals his or her involvement with focused attention, note-taking, nodding, and other
behaviors that indicate understanding or failure to understand the message. These signals are
important to the speaker, who is interested in whether the message is clear and accepted or whether
the content of the message is meeting the resistance of preconceived ideas. Speakers can use this
feedback to decide whether additional examples, support materials, or explanation is needed.

Summative Feedback

Summative feedback is given at the end of the communication. When you attend a political rally,
a presentation given by a speaker you admire, or even a class, there are verbal and nonverbal ways
of indicating your appreciation for or your disagreement with the messages or the speakers at the
end of the message. Maybe you’ll stand up and applaud a speaker you agreed with or just sit staring
in silence after listening to a speaker you didn’t like. In other cases, a speaker may be attempting
to persuade you to donate to a charity, so if the speaker passes a bucket and you make a donation,
you are providing feedback on the speaker’s effectiveness. At the same time, we do not always
listen most carefully to the messages of speakers we admire. Sometimes we simply enjoy being in
their presence, and our summative feedback is not about the message but about our attitudes about
the speaker. If your feedback is limited to something like, “I just love your voice,” you might be
indicating that you did not listen carefully to the content of the message.
LISTENING IS NOT SAME IS HEARING
Although hearing and listening sounds synonymous but in reality are two completely different
things. Hearing refers to the sounds which we hear, on the other hand listening requires focus,
paying attention and that too not only to the story, but how it is being narrated, by focusing on the
use of language and voice, and how the speaker is making use of his/her body language. In other
words we can say that during the process of listening, an active listener would be aware of both
verbal and nonverbal messages. The ability to listen effectively depends on the degree to which
he/she perceive and understand the messages.

Listening is process where verbal speeches are received, decoded in to meaning word and
interpreted. It also involves recognizing the signal such as stress, pause, tone and rhythmic pattern
of the speaker. The process of listening is not automatic, it takes a lot of practice to listen properly
.and it also asks for deliberate intention. It is a skill in which one can be honed as well as lost.
Listening is key to all effective communication, if we don’t have the ability to listen effectively
then there are high chances for messages to be misunderstood as a result of which communication
can break down and the sender of the message can become frustrated and irritated.

Listening is so important that many top employers provide listening skills training for their
employees. This is not surprising when you consider that good listening skills can lead to:

 better customer satisfaction

 greater productivity with fewer mistakes
 Increased sharing of information that in turn can lead to more creative and innovative work.

Ten useful tips that can help to become a good listener:

1. Take time to listen. Obviously there are times when you're busy for extended discussions. But
you need to set aside times when you can listen carefully to employee's problems, reactions,
concerns, and suggestions.
2. Let employees know that you're approachable. Adopt an "open door" policy. That is,
communicate your willingness to hear what employees have to say. Demonstrate that it's safe to
talk to you.
3. Put the other person at ease. Give them space and time and "permission" to speak their
peace. Watch how you look at them, how you stand or sit, it makes a huge difference. Relax, and
let them relax as well.
4. If people don't come to you, go to them. Some employees may take advantage of your "open
door" by approaching you with their concerns. Others will be reluctant to do so, for many reasons
such as shyness, fear of being judged, unwillingness to complain about others, and so on.
5. Set-up multiple means, both formal and informal, for communicating with employees. Some
employees are comfortable talking face to face. Others would rather send a note by email. Some
will speak up during a formal team meeting. Others will reveal their concerns only in casual
conversations around the snack machine. Make multiple possibilities available so that you hear
from everyone.
6. Pay attention to nonverbal signals: tone, vocalizations (such as "um," "uh," laughs, and sighs),
body postures, and gestures. Often a person will say one thing but signal nonverbally that the true
meaning is different. For instance, "okay" said with a deep sigh does not really mean "okay."
7. Remove distractions. Good listening means being willing to stop working computer, close a
door, stop reading your email, or only answer emergency calls.. Give the speaker your full
attention, and let them know they are getting your full attention.
8. Avoid anticipation. Don't jump to conclusions or assume that you understand a person's
comment before he or she has finished talking. You may misunderstand, or you may discourage
people from saying what they truly mean.
9. Suspend judgment. Don't decide on the spot whether the speaker is right or wrong. Wait until
you have a chance to think the matter over.
10. Use active listening techniques. Active listening mean taking an active part in the conversation
to make sure you are grasping fully what the speaker is trying to say.

Active listening involves techniques such as these:

Attending. Focusing closely on the speaker and maintaining eye contact.
Paraphrasing. Repeating what the speaker has said in your own words, giving him or her an
opportunity to correct you if you have misunderstood: "You're saying that the procedure seems too
complicated, is that it?"
Summarizing. Offering an occasional summary of the main points made so far: "Let's see, you've
mentioned three problems…"
Interpretation checking. Stating your interpretation of what the speaker is conveying – both
ideas and feelings – and asking if you're correct: "It sounds like you're upset that you didn't get
earlier feedback on you handling of this project, is that right?"
Using clarifying questions. Asking questions that attempt to make a point clearer or more
explicit: "Are your suggesting we change our procedures?"
Using probing questions. Asking questions that encourage the other person to expand or
elaborate on what was said: "I think I see the problem, but why do you think it happened?"
Good listeners become good communicators. They understand the importance of speaking clearly
in an easy to understand manner. When it's hard to interpret what you mean, you greatly increase
the chances of a misunderstanding. Many successful leaders and entrepreneurs credit their success
to effective listening skills. Effective listening is a skill that underpins all positive human
relationships, spend some time thinking about and developing your listening skills – they are the
building blocks of success.

Hearing is the process, function, or power of perceiving sound specifically, it is the special sense
by which noises and tones are received as stimuli. Hearing is more like collecting data. The process
of hearing is simple and basic. Hearing is the process of perceiving sounds and receiving sound
waves or vibrations through ears. It is one of the five senses and it just happens all the time despite
of our likes and dislikes unless one has hearing problem. Hearing simply happens even
involuntary. The ears receives vibration and sound is heard. It is a physiological process where
subconscious, attention, concentration or intention is not required.

TIME SPENT COMMUNICATING

Listening is the communication skill most of us use the most frequently. Various studies stress the
importance of listening as a communication skill. A typical study points out that many of us spend
70 to 80 percent of our waking hours in some form of communication. Of that time, we spend
about 9 percent writing, 16 percent reading, 30 percent speaking, and 45 percent listening. Studies
also confirm that most of us are poor and inefficient listeners.

Even though listening is the communication skill we use most frequently, it is also the skill in
which we've had the least training. The formal training in other major communication skills —
writing, reading, speaking is easily available but very few persons have any extended formal
training in listening. The same is true for informal training. It's not difficult to find workshops and
conferences that provide opportunities to improve our writing and speaking skills. But it is difficult
to find similar training programs to sharpen listening skills.

Another reason for poor listening skills is that we think faster than someone else can speak. Most
of us speak at the rate of about 125 words per minute. However, we have the mental capacity to
understand someone speaking at 400 words per minute. This difference between speaking speed
and thought speed means that when we listen to the average speaker, we're using only 25 percent
of our mental capacity. We still have 75 percent to do something else with. So, our minds will
wander. This means we need to make a real effort to listen carefully and concentrate more of our
mental capacity on the listening act. If we don't concentrate, we soon find that our minds have
turned to other ideas.

It is a proven fact that we are inefficient listeners. Studies have shown that immediately after
listening to a 10-minute oral presentation, the average listener hears, understands and retains 50
percent of what was said. Within 48 hours, that drops off another 50 percent to a final level of 25
percent efficiency. In other words, we often comprehend and retain only one fourth of what we
hear.

The capacity of listening declines as we grow older. An experiment conducted in the school gives
proof of that. The teachers were encouraged to ask questions in the middle of the teaching. The
answers of first and second graders showed that more than 90 percent were listening. Percentages
dropped in higher grades. In junior high school classes, only 44 percent of the students were
listening. In high school classes, the average dropped to 28 percent. So the concentration level of
children are higher than the adults.

PURPOSE OF LISTENING
The four purposes of listening are

 listening for appreciation

Listening for appreciation means we listen to enjoy something, and an example could be
listening to music while exercising

 listening for comprehension

Listening for comprehension is when we want to learn something new that we don’t already
know and an example could be going to class and listening to a professor’s lecture.

 listening to show support

It means that we want the other person to know we care about what they have to say, an
example of this could be someone telling us about their day.

 critical listening.
It means listening and evaluating on what the other person has said, and an example of this
could be listening critically to a politicians’ speech or a friend’s paper.
In order to become a good listener our purpose should be let the people know that they matter. Be
patient while they are speaking. Listen to their hopes and fears. Infuse value into others when you
attend to their words. There is a proverb which states that
“Arrogance talks. Humility listens”
One of the way to practice humility is to let others speak their mind. We must provide opportunity
for people to hear their own voice. It helps the speaker to learn what they really think. In the words
of Stephen R. Covey
“Seek first to understand, then to be understood.”
Sometimes we listen only to waste our time. It is a waste of energy to solve the wrong problem. We
should listen to do the right stuff. Curiosity enhances out listening skill. Always ask question to
quench the thirst of information.
PRINCIPLE OF LISTENING
A good listener not only listens to what is being said, but also to what is left unsaid or only partially
said. Effective listening therefore involves observing body language and noticing inconsistencies
between verbal and non-verbal messages, as well as just what is being said at any given moment.
For example, if someone tells you that they are happy with their life but through gritted teeth or
with tears filling their eyes, you should consider that the verbal and non-verbal messages are in
conflict. Maybe they don't mean what they say.
Listening is therefore not just a matter of using your ears, but also your eyes. There are ten
principles behind really good listening.
Ten Principles of Effective Listening
 Stop Talking
Don't talk, listen. This is one of the most important principle of listening. Famous
writer Mark Twain said
“If we were supposed to talk more than we listen, we would have two tongues and one ear.”

But such is not the case so we should follow the natural course and listen more to others. When
somebody else is talking listen to what they are saying, do not interrupt, talk over them or finish
their sentences for them. Stop, just listen. When the other person has finished talking you may
need to clarify to ensure you have received their message accurately.

 Prepare Yourself to Listen

Relax and prepare yourself to give your 100% concentration to the speaker.
Focus on the speaker. Put other things out of mind. The human mind is easily distracted by other
thoughts – what’s for lunch, what time do I need to leave to catch my train, is it going to rain – try
to put other thoughts out of mind and concentrate on the messages that are being communicated.

 Put the Speaker at Ease

One of the principle of listening is to help the speaker to feel free to speak. Remember their
needs and concerns. Nod or use other gestures or words to encourage them to continue. Maintain
eye contact but don’t stare – show you are listening and understanding what is being said.
  Remove Distractions
Focus on what is being said instead to getting distracted. Don’t doodle, shuffle papers, look
out the window, pick your fingernails or similar. Avoid unnecessary interruptions. These behaviors
disrupt the listening process and send messages to the speaker that you are bored or distracted.

 Empathize
Try to understand the other person’s point of view. Look at issues from their perspective.
Let go of preconceived ideas. By having an open mind we can more fully empathize with the
speaker. If the speaker says something that you disagree with then wait and construct an argument
to counter what is said but keep an open mind to the views and opinions of others.

 Be Patient
A pause, even a long pause, does not necessarily mean that the speaker has finished. Be
patient and let the speaker continue in their own time, sometimes it takes time to formulate what
to say and how to say it. Never interrupt or finish a sentence for someone.

 Avoid Personal Prejudice

Try to be impartial. Don't become irritated and don't let the person’s habits or mannerisms
distract you from what the speaker is really saying. Everybody has a different way of speaking -
some people are for example more nervous or shy than others, some have regional accents or make
excessive arm movements, some people like to pace whilst talking - others like to sit still. Focus
on what is being said and try to ignore styles of delivery.

 Listen to the Tone

Volume and tone both add to what someone is saying. A good speaker will use both volume
and tone to their advantage to keep an audience attentive, everybody will use pitch, tone and
volume of voice in certain situations. Let these help you to understand the emphasis of what is
being said.
  Listen for Ideas – Not Just Words
There is need to get the whole picture, not just isolated bits and pieces. Maybe one of the
most difficult aspects of listening is the ability to link together pieces of information to reveal the
ideas of others. With proper concentration, letting go of distractions, and focus this becomes easier.

 Wait and Watch for Non-Verbal Communication

Gestures, facial expressions, and eye-movements can all be important. We don’t just listen
with our ears but also with our eyes. Watch and pick up the additional information being
transmitted via non-verbal communication.

CLASSIFICATION OF LISTENING

All listening is not of the same intensity. Good listening is that which passes all the five steps of the process
of listening with positive results. Depending upon the extent to which listening becomes effective, it can
be classified into three types. They are, active listening, passive listening and selective listening

 Active Listening

 Passive Listening

 Selective Listening

Active Listening:
Active listening is the most desirable type of listening. In this case, the listener makes conscious
efforts to listen attentively, decode the message and absorb it through a participative process.

The receiver of the messages shows regard for the speaker, concentrates on what is being
conveyed, motivates and prompts the speaker, shows empathy and makes it easy for the speaker
to meaningfully deliver the message. In order to do this you must pay attention to the other person
very carefully. You cannot allow yourself to become distracted by whatever else may be going on
around you, or by forming counter arguments while the other person is still speaking. Nor can you
allow yourself to get bored, and lose focus on what the other person is saying.
When we talk of listening skills, it is important to listen effectively. When one listens actively, one
not only comprehends the message, but is also in a position to remember and recall the same as
and when required. If it becomes difficult to concentrate on what someone is saying, try repeating
their words mentally as they say them. This will reinforce their message and help you to stay
focused.

To enhance the listening skills, you need to let the other person know that you are listening to what
they're saying. To understand the importance of this, ask yourself if you've ever been engaged in
a conversation when you wondered if the other person was listening to what you were saying. You
wonder if your message is getting across, or if it's even worthwhile continuing to speak. It feels
like talking to a brick wall and it's something you want to avoid
Acknowledgement can be something as simple as a nod of the head or a simple "uh huh." You
aren't necessarily agreeing with the person, you are simply indicating that you are listening. Using
body language and other signs to acknowledge you are listening can also help you to pay attention.
Try to respond to the speaker in a way that will encourage them to continue speaking, so that you
can get the information that you need. While nodding and "uh huhing" says you're interested, an
occasional question or comment to recap what has been said also communicates that you are
listening and understanding his message.
There are five key factor which must be followed to become an active listener
 Pay attention
 Show that you are listening
 Provide feedback
 Defer judgement
 Respond appropriately

Passive Listening:
Passive listening refers to inert or indifferent listening. There is no conscious effort to receive and
absorb the message. The meaning of passive listening is to listen without asking questions or
interrupting the speaker. It may even mean that you don’t really understand what’s being said.
Quite often, passive listening stops at hearing and there is no effort to further process the message.
The listener is physically present but is not participating actively in the process of communication.
Listening in this instance is insufficient. The message is not absorbed and the passive listener will
not be in a position to remember and recall the message at a future date.
It’s typically fairly one-sided communication with little to no feedback is given to what’s being
said or listened to. It requires very little effort other than hearing what is being said and even then,
the passive listener can miss parts of the conversation because they aren’t fully paying attention.
Typically, a passive listener won’t even nod his or her head in agreement, maintain eye contact, or
give much of an indication that he or she is listening. We tend to slip into passive listening quite
often and in many instances, that’s fine.
Passive listening takes place when the listener or receiver is constrained by various physiological
and psychological factors. It may be fatigue, ill health, disregard for the speaker or lack of interest
in the subject. It also occurs when the speaker fails to meet the receiver’s wavelength. Passive
listening leads to misunderstanding on the part of the communicator who would be under the
impression that the receiver has grasped the message as intended.
Passive listening is just fine for a wide variety of situations. Think of it as perfectly suitable most
of the time when you are in multi-task mode.
Some other suitable situations include things like:

 Listening to music or news while working out

 Watching television while catching up on work emails
 Checking your phone while listening to a speaker at a conference you aren’t that interested
in
 Listening in on a several-hours-long all company product meeting update
 Letting your spouse unload a lengthy diatribe to you regarding how horrible their day at
work was
 Hearing your kid ask for ice cream for the 6th time in a minute

Selective Listening:
Another type of listening that is quite common is selective listening. Listening is done partially or
selectively. People listen to only that which they want to listen to. Under this type of listening, the
receiver keeps tuning in and out.
It is the phenomenon that occurs when we only see what we want to see and hear what we want to
hear. It’s a type of mental filtering in which we tune out someone’s opinions or ideas when they
don’t line up with ours. This isn’t just a bad habit or rude behavior. It is part of a big problem
which results when you are unable to hear what someone has to say because you are refusing to
submit yourself to the underlying confrontation. That potential fight is the real reason we often
stop hearing what someone has to say; we’ve already decided they’re wrong because we are right.
Attention is not focused. The listener lets the mind wander and the message is not thoroughly
processed. Selective listening takes place when the receiver is not in a position to concentrate, or
considers the speaker to be not so well informed on certain matters, or the receiver considers
himself to be better informed than the communicator or such other reason which hinders active
listening.
Whether we are fully aware of it or not, we are always selectively listening. Science has proven
that our brains are able to determine which conversations to tune out (no matter how many are
happening around us simultaneously), but our brains also give us the ability to focus on specific
conversations individually while multiple conversations compete for our attention.
Though choosing not to hear the request to take out the garbage can seem petty, selective hearing
as a whole is a big deal. It completely closes you off to accepting, or even entertaining, different
ideas. This ultimately impacts the things you may choose to believe and learn.
More so, the partner who is sick of you “not hearing” them ask you to wash the dishes or fold the
laundry may not stick around to see what else your ears ignore. Relationships only work if
communication is strong, and selective hearing makes it hard to understand the needs and wants
of others. In fact, some people may view your refusal to truly listen as a sign that you are
manipulating the relationship and making it completely one-sided.
Choosing to be less selective in your listening does not mean you have to be less selective in your
opinions and ideas. Instead, it’s a matter of welcoming differing opinions and allowing yourself to
consider them. Even if the end result is the same you aren’t open-minded about a new idea, or you
will never help unload the dishwasher and dust the shelves in the living room. What matters is that
you actively listened and made a decision after weighing the options. Imagine the impact that could
have on your communication with everyone you encounter.