Listening: A Key to Successful Learning & Communications - Essay Sample

Introduction

Listening is a complex process and vital as it provides the basis for successful communications. Often listening skills are taken for granted during learning because often listening is skill-acquired automatically, unlike reading and writing (Tyagi, 2013). Listening is a critical aspect of an individual's life because listening allows one to speak, read, and write. Listening, when achieved effectively, one can achieve learning, adapt information, skill, and knowledge. Listening does not only encompass receiving information, but it requires an individual ability to comprehend and extract meaning from any form of incoming speech or information (Tyagi, 2013). In the essay, listening and the importance of listening will be discussed. An individual listening skill evaluation will be conducted, and the scores will be used to define my listening styles. Also, areas of weakness in my listening will be identified, and possible solutions to improve will be discussed.

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Importance of Listening in Interpersonal Relationships

People are interactive, and it is through interaction that people create relations. In communication, there is a lot of talking and listening involved. To make sense of the speaking party, one has to listen attentively. However, in a conversation with more than two listeners, people tend to understand information differently. The difference is a good indicator that some people are good listeners than others. It is important to listen in interaction because listening enables one to acquire and understand the information conveyed, the person, and the situation effectively (Bodie, 2012). Active listening demands one to pay attention to with no destructions and make a decision to hear what is being said consciously.

In an interpersonal relationship, two types of listening can be achieved listening to understand and listening to respond. Listening to understand is the ultimate goal in any interpersonal relationship because one can deduce the intended meaning of a conversation by listening to the speaker's emotion and message altogether. Active listening to understand brings about openness to change and growth and often strengthens relationships (Bodie, 2012). Active listening when a person speaks shows that the listener cares about the topic, and often in return, the person listens attentively.

Relational Listening

To understand whether I am a good listener, I participated in the revised Listening Styles Profile (LSP-R) test. The first is the relational listening style. The relation listening evaluates the kind of listening one maintains during an interpersonal relationship. In the past, I realized I meet many people, but I am unable to maintain relations with people. I am well raised, and I have good manners, however, may listening skill affect my ability to make strong bonds. In a conversation, I listen briefly, and within a short while, my attention is gone. When I took the test, my Relational Listening score was 24. I am often interested in the speaker at first, but in the process, I begin to contrite on other things no relevant to the conversation or the speaker. I often do not listen to understand the speaker but to respond quickly and move on. My inability to understand the speaker's mood and emotions limit my ability to make connections.

Analytical Listening

The second test was the Analytical Listening style. Analytical Listening style I scored an 18, and this is because when listening, I make conclusions and judgments very fast without listening to the speaker's message to the end. Excellent analytical skills challenge the listener to be open-minded, allowing the speaker to everyone to give his or her point of view before making a judgment. After the test, I realized nam, not an excellent analytical listener. Often in my interactions, I begin by listening attentively, and the very few minutes I invest time listening are enough for me to have formed an opinion about the speaker and his or her message. As long as I have an idea of what the speaker is communicating, then I immediately conclude, and I begin to focus my attention on other things. An excellent analytical listener should be willing to listen to all involved parties' sides of the story before making a judgment. Lack of good analytical listening skill result in a biased and unfair conclusion

Task-Oriented Listening

The task-Oriented Listening test I scored a 37. From the test, I realized I prefer short and precise speakers and conversations. I like listeners who are well informed, and their information delivery is systematically making it easy for the listener to deduce meaning with no struggle. I do not enjoy finding the reason behind a particular remark, but I am concerned about the main points that will direct me to a task with minimal research. The significant score in Task-Oriented Listening is because I do not enjoy long conversations, and I have little patience to listen to the explanation behind a task.

Critical Listening

My Critical Listening test score is 25. When doing the test, I realized I do not pay much attention to details in the message; therefore, I am not an excellent critical listener. I am always listening for the facts to be delivered; however, I do not pay attention to errors or discrepancies in the speaker’s message. The speaker can contradict himself, but I may not realize the mistake made.

Responses Increase Effectiveness as a Listener and Nonverbal Skills that Help Improve

Overly I am not a good listener; however, listening can be learned and improved if one is willing to put in the work and the effort. To improve my listening skill, I will need to pay more attention to the speaker and interest on topics under discussion. Creating interest minimizes of chances of losing focus. To improve listening one has to remain attentive with no interruptions, avoid arguing back before the speaker conclude and have an open mind on a topic under conversation, this help welcome other peoples opinion without judging them without listening to their point of view. A non-verbal factor that can be adopted to help improve listening is facing the speaker and maintaining eye contact (Pastae, n.d.) Being attentive and maintaining eye contact attracts attention, and one can capture detailed speaker gestures such as mood and emotions, which are essential in a conversation.

Conclusion

Listening has been established as an essential aspect of interaction. Active listening helps improve quality of life and increase interpersonal relationships. People have different listening abilities, as some listen to understand while others listen to respond. People with poor listening skills are quick to react without understanding the magnitude of a conversation or topic. However, it has been established that listening can be taught and improved, making any form of interaction productive. Listening adds value and quality to relationships, and weak relations are created when one does not listen. To evaluate an individual listening ability, one can perform the revised Listening Styles Profile (LSP-R) test, which assesses a wide range of listening styles. To be a good listener, one has to maintain eye contact with the speaker and minimize interruptions, such as asking questions and arguing during a conversation. The question should be raised after the speaker conveys his or her message.

References

Tyagi, B. (2013). Listening: A critical skill and its various aspects. The Criterion An International Journal in English, 12, 1-8. http://www.academia.edu/download/60963552/listening20191020-30913-e5wujs.pdf

Bodie, G. D. (2012). Listening as positive communication. The positive side of interpersonal communication, 109-125. https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/3713575/Listening_as_Positive_Communication_FINAL_CHAPTER.pdf?response-content-disposition=inline%3B+filename%3DListening_as_Positive_Communication.pdf&Expires=1592873137&Signature=UmC-G5Wwf1uXpGb8PbvYbtXNEa2GHjDkjSKo9MJLXfp9JyOiglDj1jizLAnWK3kuaF-OBNvwjkwJQI~jMwH6gyYVn6KJNtxHOaXK1u6GshSJ9ZNyKdr8X7Ckf~PnlktdoW8nuUu8SD1BJCI6GCBIO7Rm25QcuDD8-6DLFM1Szb4EEmU3v2QJOpA-HLxydItTcGGvVUeN12QTYqEM49Xq2o8DVNxbJ~tBL8xJu~kLcalhhq9k9oxexG0cVm8NyUEARzRrCxWrDxoUfetPVf67SzXBH-Gf28UYfaMHDnNKe7PWxDgOPEFTMjpeggC8xUSpupedfZfhs2pdalctoCEf5g__&Key-Pair-Id=APKAJLOHF5GGSLRBV4ZA

Pastae, V (n.d.). The Importance of Listening In Interpersonal Communication. Identity, Nation and Dialogue Section: Communication, Public Relations, Education Sciences https://old.upm.ro/gidni/GIDNI-04/Cpe/Cpe%2004%2038.pdfThe revised Listening Styles Profile (LSP-R)