Active Listening Essay

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Active Listening Assessing communication effectiveness is extremely important when communicating both verbally and nonverbally. There is always room for improvement in the area of communication, not only verbally, but nonverbally as well. When people talk, they normally are only concerned with the words they are speaking. A great deal of meaning is conveyed by nonverbal means which goes along with the spoken words, intended or not. In other words, a spoken message is always sent on two levels, verbal and nonverbal. Nonverbal communication is done quite often without the speaker realizing it. From the time we are born, we use nonverbal communication and it becomes ingrained in us as part of our behavior. Things like hand gestures and facial expressions are a couple of examples that will be interpreted by the audience. Many believe that people are intimidated to ask a question if a message is not understood, therefore making nonverbal communications extremely important. Communication and Listening Perhaps the most important piece of communication is the ability to listen. Becoming a more effective listener when you communicate with others can be a difficult task. Listening in itself can be a difficult thing to do. However, an effective and active listener is extremely important in communication. In my opinion, Listening should be done more than speaking. Effective listening will ensure the entire message is heard and allows better questions to be asked, resulting in more productive ideas formulated. As for the leader, it’s probably not a good idea to tell employees how to do their job, but provide them with the purpose and goals required, this will help keep conflict to a minimum. Successful Communication If a leader is not an active listener, that can distort successful communication between leaders and employees. Being an effective leader
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