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Listening Skill and Communciation
Listening Skill and Communication: Show interest with effective listening skills, staying active in the conversation using verbal or non-verbal communication and questioning skills. Mirror the other person’s body language. Keep eye contact (when appropriate). Active Listening Skills: Effective listening skills require complete attention on the speaker. Use active listening to seek clarification that they’ve heard the person’s words and meaning correctly. They will use cues such as ‘aha’, ‘oh yah’ and ‘ok’ to show that they are listening.
Body Language and Non-Verbal Communication - Listening Skill and Communication : Appropriate body language such as leaning forward, eye contact, head nods or shakes, as well as saying, “yes”, “aha”, “okay”, encourages the person to continue sharing. Be aware of what you body or non-verbal language is saying to the other person. If you are looking in the other direction while they are speaking it may give them the impression that you do not care.
Questioning Skills: Listening skill and communication also involves the use of questioning skills. Use questioning skills to welcome your speaker to elaborate on what they are feeling, thinking or doing with their situation/story. Open-ended questions allows the person to give you a detailed explanation of their story/situation. “What was the upsetting part for you about what he said?” “How do you think things will get better?” “Why do you feel your Dad was yelling at you today?” “How do you feel when he treats you like that?” “What does it mean to you when you got fired from your job?” Closed-ended questions help you get specific information from someone and do not allow for a detailed answer. “Do you enjoy your work?” “What is your most favourite thing at school?” “Did you like the movie?” “Would you like spaghetti or chicken for dinner?” “Who do you think will get the promotion?” “How late did you work last night?” Leading questions put others on the defensive and do not allow the person to give you any information. They are really statements with a question mark. These questions judge, deny and give advice without the person being able to answer for themselves. Its best to avoid these types of questions. “Don’t you think he was rude to say that?” “Are you really going to wear that dress?” “Why didn’t you call me first?”
Paraphrasing and Summarising helps clarify what the person is saying. Use listening skill and communication to reflect back to the person that you are interested and genuinely listening. Using paraphrasing and summarising tells the speaker that you’ve received the information in the way they are trying to convey it. Share with them your translation of what they are saying. Its a techniques that allows you to clarify if you've heard the message they are trying to convey. They will either agree that what you’ve heard is correct or rephrase what they are saying to clarify the meaning. This also encourages them to share on a deeper level.
Respond to Feeling Notice how someone is feeling when they are speaking to you. Sometimes people carry strong emotions about a situation and by acknowledging these feelings it ‘lightens their load’ and enables them to take a step back from their emotional confusion to see their situation more clearly. It is important to match the person’s level of intensity when reflecting their feelings. “You are feeling frustrated with that….” “You are feeling hurt that he said those words to you.” *********************************************************
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