By: James R. Disanza and Nancy J. Legee

PowerPoint by: Jillian Russell Communications

“Effective listening is vital for shared meaning and may be one of the most straightforward, least expensive ways to increase organizational productivity”

 A person’s ability to correctly interpret and remember the content of another person’s message  It’s a 4 step Process Conversation

1. Receiving: the message the other person is communicating to you. An act of hearing. 2. Attending: Focusing on the message with no distractions. Bring the message into conscience attention and the background noise fades away. 3. Assigning Meaning: Your interpretation to what is being said 4. Remembering: To store and recall meanings of a conversation

 Motivate yourself  Focus on content and not delivery  Defer judgment  Take advantage of thought speed  Listen for meaning  Take notes

 Find something that triggers your interest  Use the situation to your advantage and learn something new  Search for a message that could help you or your company in the long run Motivation Motivation

 Usually turned off by traditional messages  If you spend your time judging the material you will miss the message  Examples:  How many times the speaker says “um”.  What the speaker is wearing  The dialect of the speaker

 Don’t find ways to disagree with the speaker  Listen to what they have to say first

 We can think faster than we can talk  4 Patterns  Small mental departures  Tangential  Private arguments  Large departure Education

 Don’t focus on speakers words  Focus on nonverbal cues  Vocals  Gestures  Facial Expressions

 Shows concern for what the speaker is saying  Increases your attention to the message

 Responding positively to what others have to say  Communicated through experiences and emotions  Fully understand the other persons point of view

 A response that accepts the content of the conversation as well as the experience/emotion the person presents  Direct recognition: Nonverbal agreement  Agreeing with content: Verbal agreement  Endorsing the emotions/experiences: Accepts feelings as reasonable and legitimate

 Type of confirmation  Validates the person’s experience/emotional reactions, but you disagree with the content of the message

 Denies a persons experience or feelings as well as their self-worth  Avoid Involvement: Nonverbal Cues  Irrelevant Remarks: Not listening  Imperviousness: Lack of concern  Disqualification: Disparages a persons feelings Human Communication

 Whenever we communicate it includes content and emotions  Empathic listeners respond with confirmation or rejection and avoids disconfirmation

 DiSanza, J. and Legge, N. (2009) Business and Professional Communication: Plans, Procedures, and Performances. Pearson Education, Inc. Book