Page 55 - SREENARAYANAGURU OPEN UNIVERSITY

skill. We also need to be non-judg- cessful only when the sender and the receiver
mental about the speaker. are ready to speak and listen.

f Comprehend : When you pay attention to the speaker, we
Once you select the relevant con- can build a bond between the speaker and the
tent, understand the retained mes- listener. Attentive listening makes for better
sage from your perspective. Absorb working conditions and a better life. It can
and assimilate the content. reduce miscommunication, resolve conflicts,

f Remember: and create an encouraging work station.
While hearing a lecture, you ab-
sorb the content and store the con- We listen to many things. We talk to people,
tent in your memory for future use. listen to music, and listen to lectures, audios,
This storage is not for immediate movies, and so on. Other than just conversa-
response, but for future use. In tions, we listen to many more things around us.
face-to-face communication, the re- We listen to different types of sounds.
sponse will be immediate so this is Let us discuss some types of listening.
often remembered only for a short
duration until or unless it is needed f Appreciative Listening
in the future. We listen to music, poetry, podcasts and

f Respond: other audio. This is for your pleasure, and there
is no pressure on you to listen. We often listen
This is the last step of the listening to music for enjoyment. We may or may not
process. Giving feedback on what
you understood from what you pay attention to the words. This is appreciative
heard. Here we can ask questions listening.
and clarify your doubts. f Comprehensive Listening
When you are learning, you listen to com-
prehend the content of the audio. We try to
Listening is so important because good lis- learn from our teacher or instructor through
tening is an easy way to connect with people observation. In a lecture class, we take notes
and build relationships. Active listening is the for future reference. Here we try to compre-
opposite of passive listening. Both the speaker hend the ideas into main points and sub points.
and the listener have an impact on the advan- This is called comprehensive listening.
tages of active listening.
f Empathetic Listening
The person you are talking to will be techni- We listen to the emotions of our fellow
cally listening but they are tuned out, on auto- beings. Talking to our family and friends con-
pilot and not mentally engaged with what you nects us with emotions. The more we listen, the
are saying. And as a speaker, it can be very better the relationship will be.
dissatisfying and discouraging when people
are not really paying attention. Here, there are f Critical Listening
chances for miscommunication to take place. Critical Listening occurs when we are lis-
tening to scrutinize a message and pick some-
The emotions of the listener are also import- thing apart. Here we listen to the things that
ant. The listener should be in a mood to listen matter the most.
to the speaker. The communication will be suc-

SGOU - FYUGP - SLM - English for Communication 49