Page 41 - DENG101_Communication Skills-I

Communication Skills-I

Notes 6. Intuitive listening: Intuitive listening, like listening for mutual creativity, is a higher form
of listening. It means listening through intuitive mind by silencing the other internal
dialogues going simultaneously.

4.2 Process of Listening

Like reading, listening is basically a mental process. It encompasses three broad stages:

1. Selection: Because one hears much more than one listens to, selection of the listening
message initiates the process that selection involves a deliberate mental act.

Example: Think of how one functions in a room crowded with conversational
groups. An individual hears all the sounds around him, but he selectively listens to only
the few people in his immediate circle. Once an individual speaks, the listeners will not
listen to the whole subject matter. They will listen selectively.
2. Reception: Once one selects the sound to which one will listen, the next stage is reception.
The complicated hearing mechanism picks up the chosen sound waves and transfers them
to the brain. Hearing ability is a critical part of the process.
3. Symbol: Meaning manipulation: The most complicated part of listening requires one’s mind
to take the internal message symbols, interpret them, and convert them into meanings for
them. As one can create symbol meanings that are right for him, neither the written nor the
spoken words have any inherent meaning. Comprehension and retention are important in
listening. However, one usually cannot re-listen from the same speaker as one can re-read.
Therefore, the danger of misunderstanding and forgetting is even greater in listening than
in reading. The typical listener cannot remember half of what he or she just heard, and
can recall only one-fourth of it a short time later. This is a biological phenomenon and is
inherent in every listener.

4.3 Personal Characteristics and Listening

One may find oneself in the situation of talking to another person and suddenly becoming

aware that the other person is not listening. Not a very good feeling, is it? The fact is that we
have no fundamental hearing defi ciency. Still, we do not listen very well. How can we become
better listeners? Very little effort has been made to probe into this area. Several researchers
have examined the potential relationships between effective listening and other individual
characteristics. The researches in the area suggest several conclusions:
1. Sex: researches have shown that females comprehend slightly less from lectures than do
males. The discrepancy is probably caused by the manner of testing. In general, it is not
inherent in sex differences. Hence, sex of an individual does not affect listening ability.

2. Personality characteristics: No marked relationship between comprehension of subject
matter and personality characteristics exists. Physique has no relation with listening. In
other words, a good listener does not possess a certain type of personality.

3. Verbal competence: Verbal competence is an important part of listening comprehension.
An adequate vocabulary aids listening and word retention. Without having adequate
verbal competence, listening comprehension will be lower. In fact, the effective use of

words, through both listening and speaking, is a definite business and social asset. The
comprehension of the listener will increase if verbal competence is high.
4. Note taking: As most listeners concentrate more on taking notes, note taking does not
have a noticeable effect on listening comprehension and retention. However, if one listens
carefully and synthesizes, he will probably perform better in all walks of life.

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