The ability to listen is the least worked to be one of the most important to promote in future communicators because true communication does not start by speaking but by listening. The main condition of the communicator is knowing how to listen.
For this reason, this monograph deals with general concepts and aspects on the subject in question, which will facilitate an approach and a better understanding of what it means and reports for each individual, especially for future communicators, knowing how to listen.
Introduction
" It takes courage to stop and talk. But much more to sit and listen. " Winston Churchill.
According to specialists, the ability to listen is more difficult to find and develop than that of being a "good communicator", but it provides more authority and influence than the latter. If you do not know how to listen, you run the risk of communicating things very well that do not interest the public. In addition, it will deprive itself of receiving knowledge that it would not otherwise receive.
Listening and feedback are essential components of the communication process, those that give it its bidirectional character, those that close the process. Without them there is no communication. When they are not taken into account, only information can be discussed.
Despite being part of a unique process, in recent years specialists have been paying special attention to listening skills, giving it a relatively independent treatment in the study of the communication process.
Development
Why? What is listening?
According to Carmen Margarita Bassoon, listening is unconditionally welcoming the other as he is and as he is. Listening is an essential and most important element of communication; the one that gives it, together with the feedback, its bidirectional character and closes the communication process.
Listening is a volition: wanting to listen
Listening means directing attention to the other's words, trying to achieve an exact perception of the spoken word and extract the essentials of the message heard and not make judgments in advance, without having fully understood the information provided by the interlocutor. So it is necessary to let others speak what is not meant by not speaking.
It is known that there are very quiet people who do not therefore listen to others.
They can maintain an internal, mental dialogue while they are silent or even look at their interlocutor pretending to listen.
Are listening and hearing the same thing?
When talking about hearing, the physiological process that takes place when the received waves cause a series of vibrations that are transmitted to the brain is underlined. Instead, listening takes place when the brain already reconstructs these electromagnetic effects and forms a representation of the original sound to which a certain meaning is assigned. In this sense, hearing cannot be stopped because the sense of hearing picks up sound waves and transmits them to the brain whether it wants them or not. On the other hand, listening is not so automatic and we have the experience that sometimes we hear but we do not listen.
After the sounds have been converted into electrochemical impulses and transmitted to the brain, an often unconscious decision is made as to whether or not to pay attention to the ear. Being true that the process begins first as a physiological one, it soon becomes a psychological process. Indeed, it is the needs, desires, motivations, perceptions and past experiences that will determine the primacy of attention and will point out which of all the stimuli received will focus attention more, and in this sense these are the listeners.
Other aspects that have to do with the process that goes from hearing to listening are: the element of understanding and that of evocation or memory. The element of sound understanding is made up of many elements:
- From a grammatical structure that deciphers the message (decoding). From the knowledge of the source of the message. From the social context, which indicates what kind of cultural assumptions make the messages interpret in a certain way. Also the ability to evoke or remember information is understood based on the number of times that the information has been heard or repeated; the amount of information stored in the brain.
True listening is an active process that involves more complex aspects than the passive act of hearing, although without the minimum threshold of hearing, listening would be impossible.
What are the benefits of knowing how to listen?
Robertson identifies that listening is beneficial, since it increases the self-esteem of the person speaking, creating a positive climate for communication and interpersonal relationships. Indirectly expands vocabulary. Several studies have shown that the most successful individuals, regardless of their occupation, are those with the largest vocabulary. One reason why these people do better is because they have more options for solving problems.
Man thinks in the form of categories that are defined by words. The broader the vocabulary, the greater the ability of the categories of thought to provide mechanisms with which to identify and solve problems. The most effective means of expanding vocabulary and, therefore, of having a better variety of options, are through reading and speaking attention. Also, those who know how to listen carefully discover and benefit not only from the style of others, but also from the content of their messages, therefore it can be said that they learn indirectly.
In correspondence with the above, it is considered important to highlight that there are four types of listening:
- Attention: When the listener attends to obtain information and to be able to participate actively. It is used very often in the classroom to listen to orders, instructions, messages. Analytical: When the listener analyzes the message to answer or solve a question, if he comes to pass judgment, then it is a "critical listening". This form can be manifested when listening to answer questions, to give opinions, summarize ideas, etc. Appreciative: When listening to enjoy and delight as spiritual or stylistic enjoyment. It is used when listening to music, a song or a literary work, poems, fables, stories. Marginal: When it is not a main activity, but rather sounds that are on another plane are heard, such as sounds from the environment, music from background, listen without intending to.
Those who know how to listen are patient in communicative activity. Being a good listener is not so easy, since non-verbal resources that qualify information also intervene in frontal communication and are sometimes decisive in mutual communication.
Two types of listening obstacles should be highlighted: Cognitive and Attitudinal.
The main cognitive obstacle lies in the difference in rhythm between listening and thinking: the listener's thinking can be faster than the words he receives, or vice versa.
There are some resources to keep listening skills coordinated with the sender's speech; the person who knows how to listen can mentally follow the line of thought of the interlocutor, select which are the main ideas of the message, remember the previous ideas and relate them to those that are happening and show signs of understanding or difficulty of understanding.
The main attitudinal obstacle to full listening is the tendency to judge; It works as a perceptual filter and can cause distortions in the message that someone transmits to us, caused by preconceived ideas or stereotypes about the person or the content of their intervention.
These obstacles make listening incomplete or may even manifest externally in dialogue.
Active listening is the ability to listen beyond literal words, also understand the underlying meanings and read the feelings of the speaker, that is, understand not only what he says, but also what he feels.
For this it is essential to perceive the ideas expressed and the attitudinal or emotional meaning, considering the other person's point of view and not only his own.
Active listening has advantages:
- It reduces tension. You make friends. You stimulate the speaker. You help make better decisions. You take advantage of the experience of other people who work in the same field. You learn to work better.
There are behaviors that help active listening:
Verbal components:
- Ask for clarifications. Formulate open questions. Verify the understanding of the message through paraphrases, summaries or reformulations. Participate in the dialogue with interventions that take into account the contributions of the other person.
Non-verbal components:
- Silence. Natural gaze towards the person who speaks. Settlement gestures. Accompaniment gestures. Reflective tone of voice and slow pace. Open posture and towards the person speaking. Appropriate distance.
Dr. V. Ojalvo, (1999), expresses that good listening implies:
- The ability to feel, to sensuously perceive what another person transmits. The ability to interpret, to understand the message captured, this aspect requires becoming aware of the possibilities of misrepresentation of messages, trying to differentiate facts from assumptions and opinions..The ability to evaluate, to decide the importance and validity in a certain context of what was heard. The ability to respond to the message of the interlocutor. Not being the only one who speaks, showing consideration and kindness towards the interlocutor, having the will to make the Listening is an active part of the communication process, taking an interest in any topic that the person who starts, judging the content of the message and not its form of expression, making an effort to understand, avoiding distractions,keeping the mind open and flexible are attitudes that, according to some, help to listen better.
Conclusions
It can be said that taking into account the assumptions previously discussed, it is essential that communication professionals enhance the ability of listening to contribute to the achievement of their communicative competence and for the apprehension of knowledge that will lead them to a performance in tune with the current requirements.
Bibliography
Báez García, Mireya. Towards more effective communication. Editorial Pueblo and Education. Cuba. 2006.
Melendo, Maité. Communication and personal integration. Earth Salt. Santander. 1985.
Melendo, Maité. Listen to her. Type Brower. Bilbao. 2001.
Sanz Pujol, Gloria. Effective communication. Editorial Grao. Barcelona. 2005.
Ojalvo Mitrany Victoria. How to make communication more effective? in: Educational communication. Collective of CEPES authors, UH Ciudad Habana, 1999, page141.
Contributed by: Lic. Manuela Durán Rodríguez
Group leader. Communication Management.
