Sunday, May 10, 2009

Listening

Listening is a five element process. First there is hearing. Hearing is a physiological dimension to listening. It is the process of the sound waves striking the ear at a certain frequency and loudness. This can be influences by many factors external noises or a loss of hearing. Next is attending. Attending is the psychological dimension to listening. Here we are mentally filtering out messages focusing on some and not on others. After attending comes understanding. This is a very important element. Understanding is when we make sense of the message. Many people hear a message but don’t understand it. It is important to work through understanding.
After a message is understood, a person needs to respond. Responding is when the listener gives feedback. This happens both verbally and non verbally, both while the person is speaking and then after they are done. Finally is remembering. This is almost as important as understanding. Remembering is your ability to recall what you have just heard. People frequently say that if you don’t remember what I told you then you were not listening to me. It is very important to remember.
Without one or all of these elements, listening will not be near as effective as is should be and could be pointless. In communication, listening is just about as important as communicating the message.

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