How can listening be improved

Listening is the foundation of effective communication. The ability to actually hear and understand what is being said is critical to establishing and maintaining workable relationships with coworkers and clients, solving problems, resolving conflicts , and reaching organizational goals.

In terms of receiving directions or reaching an agreement, the implications of missing so much information are far-reaching. Miscommunication, misunderstandings, and mishaps are inevitable when more than half of what has been said is lost due to poor listening skills. But what causes people to have such poor listening skills?

How can they be so oblivious to their lack of attentiveness? And, most importantly, how can they utilize strategies to improve their listening skills? For one, most people are more concerned about what they have to say than what the other person is saying. Other hindrances to listening include distractions in other people, electronic devices, or competing thoughts.

How on earth is this possible? They failed to embrace the many elements of active listening and other strategies to improve listening skills.

One of the most important types of listening skills , active listening, involves hearing what is said and noticing nonverbal communication. You can use verbal feedback by saying things like, "I understand that must be difficult," or "okay.

The goal is to send signals to the speaker so they know that you are actively listening. In a situation where someone is giving you tasks, make sure to repeat the task list back to the speaker so they know you understand what you are supposed to do. Writing down what they say also shows attentiveness. You can practice listening by being aware of what you do when someone is talking to you. Do this by writing down what you heard, understood and acknowledged after an in-person interaction with someone, or listen to audiobooks or podcasts without any text in front of you.

Try listening to no more than four-minute clips and replay them to see how much information you are able to retain. This will help you to become more aware of your role as a receiver of information and it can enhance your overall communication skills. Find jobs. Company reviews. Find salaries. Upload your resume. Sign in. Career Development.

Why are listening skills important? Demonstrates your ability to pay attention to thoughts, behaviors and feelings of an individual Increases your power to influence, serve, motivate or develop people effectively Enables an organization to operate efficiently with the information they are given that may cause them to adapt to market trends or consumer needs Enhances basic human interaction Builds personal and professional relationships.

How to improve your listening skills. Maintain eye contact with the speaker. Visualize what the speaker is saying. Limit judgments. Don't interrupt. Wait for a pause to ask questions. Ask clarifying questions. Empathize with the speaker.

Pay attention to nonverbal cues. Provide the speaker with feedback. Another way of getting English from two sources is with podcasts. You can also print the transcript before listening. That way, when you find something interesting, you can stop the audio and make notes on the printed transcript. Finally, audiobooks are another easy way of getting English from two sources at the same time. Most books exist in their printed or e-book versions before they are made into audiobooks.

There are also many internet sites that offer mostly free audiobooks along with their digital text. You only have to press play and start listening and reading at the same time.

Are American movies easier for you to understand than British movies? Or maybe the opposite is true? You might have trouble understanding some English accents the first few times you listen to them. This is normal! Even native English speakers can have trouble understanding different English accents.

But all English accents are beautiful, and you can understand them all if you just keep on listening. Remember that practice makes perfect. If you think a specific English accent is more difficult to understand for you, all you have to do is keep on practicing your listening skills with audio from that accent. For example, if American English is challenging for you, try watching American series or listening to American podcasts or the news for a month.

Variety makes life more fun, and being able to understand English speakers from all around the world is simply amazing. This kind of practice is perfect if you want to learn new words or improve your pronunciation.

They normally focus on learning vocabulary, but you can use these resources to improve your listening skills, as well. Yes, in your sleep.

Conversations are all about speaking, but this is a post about listening skills, so why am I including this here? Easy, every conversation, even those with ourselves, include a speaker and a listener. Now, I know this trick works because I use it myself. Let me give you a little bit of background. I was born in Spain, and lived there for 23 years of my life. My native language is Spanish. One day, I got a scholarship and I had to move to Poland.

Seven days later! How was I supposed to go to the doctor without speaking the language? Or buy a train ticket? After panicking for a little bit, I realized that I had to learn quickly.

But instead of studying vocabulary lists , I needed words that would help me get through everyday life. If I had to go to the pharmacy, for example, I would get ready by thinking about the conversation I was going to have. I thought about the questions I might be asked and how I could respond to them. I learned only the words that I was going to need to know.

This conversation with myself would go on and on until I was sure I had an answer for every possible question and I could recognize some important words they could use. Sometimes the process was short, others it took much more time, but this allowed me to go to the pharmacy, the shop around the corner and even to the doctor with confidence. This way of improving your listening skills is related to the previous one. Use your own voice to practice your English listening skills! You may think I am crazy, but I talk to myself in the languages I study when I have a shower or go for a run.

I create imaginary conversations, ask myself questions and give myself answers pretending to be another person. Sometimes I even change my voice or my accent! Listening to yourself is an amazing way of improving your listening skills. I like watching shows in Hungarian and then I try to imitate the accent in front of the mirror. Then I speak to myself and I try to use those words. Try it with English-language shows!

The first time you watch, do it at normal speed. During your second listening, choose the 0. Choose 1. Challenge yourself and go up in speed as your listening skills get better.