7.3.1 Active listening
The main components of active listening are attending, encouraging, reflecting and summarising. Active listening is a dynamic process and requires the listener to actively participate in the communication process.
Activity 7b
- Read through the section on active listening on pages 77-83 of your textbook. Compare and contrast these suggestions from Dwyer (2005) with those from de Bono (2004) in Reading 7.2.
- Next time you listen to someone take note of your non-verbal behaviour. Adopt some of the factors involved in attending listening in Table 4.2, page 79. Do they make a difference? You can also explore some of these, such as posture, when you are watching the television!
- How can you encourage a person to disclose more information? Try some of these out in conversations.
- Have you ever misinterpreted someone's directions. For example, the term 'soon' is very ambiguous. If I say 'I would like that project finished soon, please,' then when would I like it done? Does 'soon' mean today? Tomorrow? End of the week? Reflective listening helps clarify such cases. The listener may clarify by asking 'Is tomorrow afternoon OK?'.
- Provide examples of messages in which the sender and receiver have not clearly understood each other and where reflective listening may have been useful.
- Complete exercise 4 a-d on page 91 of your textbook.
- We have seen that empathy is an important part of interpersonal communication (see chapter 5) and, as all interpersonal communications involve listening, empathic listening (listening with empathy) is important in seeking to understand the other person.
Why is empathic listening important in workplace communication?
How can empathic listening help to manage a diverse (multicultural) workforce?
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