Listening Is an Essential Part of Communication

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Listening is an essential part of communication that requires energy and concentration. As speakers, it is essential to understand the concept of listening in order to improve our ability to connect with our audience in a clear and positive manner. In this chapter we have learned the characteristics of good listener and also identify the barriers that prevent both speakers and audiences from listening effectively. In the following lines, I will analyze different components of the listening process and how to become an effective listener. When we are given speech and making presentations, sometimes we assume that people hear and comprehend what we say. As speakers, it is important to understand that hearing is essential for effective listening. As I said previously listening is a complex activity that requires effort and effective listening is a long time work. The first step of the listening process is to select a message. The second step is to focus on the message while you overcome the personal or environmental barriers that could distract the message. The third step is to understand the message that has been delivered. Our role as a speaker is to make our messages clear and understood by our listeners. The next step in the process is to remember ideas and informations that were presented. According to the authors of Public Speaking Handbook, the average attention span of listeners is about eight seconds. It is very difficult for a speaker to hold the audiences’ attention. A speaker who knows how the listening process work will use ideas and words to captivate the audience. The final step in the process is to respond to what we have heard. Before responding to a message we must evaluate the content . If the speaker delivers the message clearly, present ideas with facts, this step can be called the involvement process. In this step we give our opinions
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