MODULE 1: FUNDAMENTALS OF LISTENING 

Hi friends, before we embark on our journey today, we shall quickly recap our learning’s
thus far. We started with understanding the basics of effective interpersonal communication
and explored the same under the following heads:
 Models of communication 
 Process of communication 
 Barriers of effective communication 
 Types of communication 
 Channels of communication 
 Communication styles 
 Methods of communication 
 Principles of Effective Interpersonal Communication.

Today we will be exploring the fundamentals or the foundation of Listening and the
components of active listening skills in two sessions.

 Learning objectives:
 The session will help us understand the different types of listening and provide
information on basic skills of listening, barriers to listening, listening habits and body
language.
 This session will also equip participants with the ability to use the art of ‘listening’ to
build relationships and transform every situation into a profitable one

 Learning outcomes 
 A clear understanding of the role of ‘active listening’ 
 Be able to use active listening skills to achieve personal and organizational success
 Model proactive listening skills for others to emulate

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1. What is listening?

Listening is the most fundamental component of interpersonal communication skills

A typical study points out that many of us spend 70 to 80 percent of our time in some form
of communication. Of that time, we spend about 9 percent writing, 16 percent reading, 30
percent speaking, and 45 percent listening.

Listening is a complex facet of the communication process, and it is considered by some

communication researchers to be a more difficult activity than speaking. It is an active
process in which a conscious decision is made to listen to and understand the messages of
the speaker.

Listening is receiving language through the ears. Listening involves identifying the sounds
of speech and processing them into words and sentences. When we listen, we use our ears
 to receive individual sounds (letters, stress, rhythm and pauses) and we use our brain to
convert these into messages that mean something to us.

Listening is the first of the four language skills, which are:

1. Listening
2. Speaking
3. Reading
4. Writing
In our own language, listening is usually the first language skill that we learn.

We will first differentiate between hearing and listening,

Someone rightly said, “Hearing is through ears, but listening is through the mind.” The two
activities hearing and listening involve the use of ears, but they are different. Hearing is an
accidental and automatic brain response to sound that requires no effort. We are
surrounded by sounds most of the time. 

Listening, on the other hand, is purposeful and focused rather than accidental. Listening, at
its best, is active, focused, concentrated attention for the purpose of understanding the
meanings expressed by a speaker. We do not always listen at our best, it requires
motivation and effort.

Active listening is a communication skill that involves going beyond simply hearing the
words that another person speaks, but also seeking to understand the meaning and intent
behind them. It requires ;
• Being fully present in the conversation
• Noticing (and using) non-verbal cues
• Paraphrasing and reflecting back what has been said
• Withholding judgment and advice

2. OPINIONS & VIEWS:

We shall briefly glimpse through the opinions and views on Listening by great scholars 

“The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn't said.” Peter Drucker

“I only wish I could find an institute that teaches people how to listen. Business people need
to listen at least as much as they need to talk. Too many people fail to realize that real
communication goes in both directions.”
— Lee Iacocca, Chrysler Corporation

Most of the successful people I've known are the ones who do more listening than talking."
— Bernard Baruch, financier and presidential adviser

If speaking is silver, then listening is gold.” – Turkish Proverb

Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to
reply." --Stephen R. Covey
Listening leaders are organizational leaders who, for the benefit of their company, the
employees and their own performance, choose to make actively listening to the ideas,
insights and inputs of their employees a key part of their leadership strategy.

The benefits of listening to employees are almost endless. From increased employee
engagement and reduced employee turnover to increased productivity and innovation. Put
simply, no one knows the name our business better than our employees. 

Sundar Pichai, CEO at Google 

If you are in a meeting, the higher up you are it is tough to understand what's going on so
speaking less as possible and listening more to what is around you is important.

Satya Nadella, CEO at Microsoft 

Listen more talk less. Be decisive when the time comes.

Research findings suggest that listening seems to make an employee more relaxed, more
self-aware of his or her strengths and weaknesses

Active listening can help not only retain more information but also better understand what
is being said. It boosts emotional intelligence and makes a more empathetic leader. Active
listening enables us to better understand employees' struggles and avoid
misunderstandings.

In today’s digital workplace, listening can be harder than ever. We are continuously
inundated with waves of information battling for our attention.

3. Qualities of a good listener 

 They’re fully present. Being engaged in the current moment.

 They don’t listen to respond. If we are constantly thinking about how to react to
what the speaker is saying, we-are not being a good listener. 
 They react in the moment. Good listeners use their focus in the present to react.
 They don’t have an agenda. Good listeners go into conversations without any
expectations. 
 They don’t jump to give advice. They never interrupt. It’s frustrating to speak and
constantly get interrupted. 
 They ask follow-up questions.
 They listen as much (or more than) they speak. They don’t aim to dominate the
conversation, but rather try to listen the same amount or even more than they
verbally contribute.
 They show that they’re listening. Good listeners show that they’re engaged by using
active body language. This may include nodding or leaning in to show agreement 
 They’re patient. This means they encourage them to say all that they have to rather
than rushing to finish the conversation.
 They listen to learn. Good listeners believe they’ll learn something new from each
conversation. 
  They’re interested in what the speaker is interested in. Good listeners are genuinely
curious and want to find out more about what the speaker has had to say. 
 They summarize what they’ve heard. This typically comes closer to the end of the
conversation to help highlight important moments or illuminate any outstanding
issues.

4. Process of Listening:

Listening is an active process by which we make sense of, assess, and respond to what we
hear. The listening process involves five stages: receiving, understanding, evaluating,
remembering, and responding.

 The Receiving Stage

The first stage of the listening process is the receiving stage, which involves hearing
and attending. Hearing is the physiological process of registering sound waves as
they hit the eardrum. Paired with hearing, attending is the other half of the receiving
stage in the listening process. Attending is the process of accurately identifying and
interpreting particular sounds we hear as words. The sounds we hear have no
meaning until we give them their meaning in context. Listening is an active process
that constructs meaning from both verbal and nonverbal messages.

 The Understanding Stage

The second stage in the listening process is the understanding stage. Understanding
or comprehension occurs when both the speaker and audience share an experience
of meaning, and this constitutes an important step in the listening process. This is
the stage during which the audience determines the context and meanings of the
words they hear. Determining the context and meaning of individual words, as well
as assigning meaning in language, is essential to understanding sentences, and, thus,
both are essential to understanding a speaker’s message.

 The Evaluating Stage

This stage of the listening process is the one during in which the listeners assess the
information received, both qualitatively and quantitatively. Evaluating allows the
listener to form an opinion of what they heard and, if necessary, to begin developing
a response. This stage is important for a listener in terms of how what they heard
will affect their own ideas, decisions, actions, and/or beliefs.
Example; A voter who listens to and understands the points made in a political
candidate’s speech can decide whether those points were convincing enough to cast
their vote.

 The Remembering Stage
In the listening process, the remembering stage occurs as the receiver categorizes
and retains the information gathered from the speaker for future access. The result
—memory—allows the person to record information about people, objects, and
events for later recall. This process happens both during and after the speaker’s
delivery. Memory is essential throughout the listening process. We depend on our
 memory to fill in the blanks when we’re listening and to let us place what we’re
hearing at the moment in the context of what we’ve heard before. 

 The Responding Stage

The responding stage is the stage of the listening process wherein the listener
provides verbal and/or nonverbal reactions based on short- or long-term memory.
Following the remembering stage, a listener can respond to what they hear either
verbally or non-verbally. Nonverbal signals can include gestures such as nodding,
making eye contact, smiling, rolling their eyes, grimacing, or any other body
language. Responding verbally might involve asking a question, requesting additional
information, or repeating what a speaker has said back to them in order to verify
that the received message matches the intended message.

5. Three Components of Active Listening:

 Comprehend: The listener pays attention to the speaker’s verbal and non-verbal
language to fully understand what they’re trying to communicate.
 Retain: The listener tries to remember key points of the speaker’s message using
their memory or via note-taking.
 Respond: We respond to the speaker to confirm our understanding of their
message. This only happens after analysing and remembering what they said
(components one and two).

6. Modes of Listening:
Effective listening has three modes: attentive listening, responsive listening, and active
listening. Understanding these modes will help us to increase our listening accuracy and
reduce the opportunity for misunderstanding.
 Attentive Listening
Attentive listeners focus on the speaker and work hard to eliminate distractions
(such as noise or poor delivery skills). They are also patient and let the speaker
finish their thoughts without interruption. While not easy, attentive listening is
essential for effective communication.
 Responsive Listening
Responsive listeners demonstrate to the speaker that they are listening and
understanding what is being said, which encourages the speaker to continue.
Encouraging responses may include both nonverbal and verbal cues.
 Active Listening 
This is probably the most important listening skill. It is “active” because it
combines the skills of listening and responding .
An active listener monitors the communication of a message at both the content
and feeling level. They pay attention to what people say, how they say it, and
why they’re saying it.

7. Techniques for Active Listening:

 Let others tell their own stories first. By letting them speak first, we save time.
When their interests are revealed we can tailor our discussion to their particular
needs, goals and objectives. 
 It is impossible to listen and talk at the same time. Not interrupting allows the other
person to keep their train of thought.
 Listen for the main ideas. Specific facts are only important as they pertain to the
main theme. 
 Fight off distractions; Focus attention on the words, ideas, feelings and underlying
intent. Improve power of concentration so that we can block out external and
internal distractions and attend totally to the speaker.
 React to the message, not the person. Don’t allow our mental impression of the
speaker to influence our interpretation of their message. 
 Use feedback. Constantly try to check our understanding of what we hear. Do not
only hear what we want to hear.
 Try not to be critical, either mentally or verbally, of the other person’s point of view.
Keep an open mind.
 Listen attentively. Face the speaker with uncrossed arms and legs. Lean slightly
forward. Establish eye contact. Use affirmative head nods and appropriate facial
expressions when called for, but do not overdo it.
 Create a positive listening environment. Shoot for a private atmosphere away from
sources of distraction.
 Ask questions. Ask open-ended questions to allow the speaker to express his
feelings and thoughts. The effective use of questions also allows us to contribute to
the conversation.