Six strategies for more effective listening skills

Listening Skills

Blodgett, Paul C. 1997. "Six ways to be a better listener." Training & Development, July: v51 n7 p11(2).

In this article, the author lists six specific things people can do to be more effective listening. He points out the benefits of listening well, which will pay off both personally and professionally. The six strategies he recommends are:

Encourage the listener by letting them complete their thoughts and encouraging them to elaborate.

Pay attention to personal body language and look like an active listener.

Concentrate on what that person is saying, and not what you will say next.

Listen from the speaker's point-of-view without judgments

Consider what the speaker is saying from his or her perspective, frame of mind and emotions

Give feedback. Clarify, restate, reflect the content, without inserting your own comments, asking for clarification if you need it.

In particular I think I am pretty good about letting the other person finish his or her thoughts, and I do often ask them to say more about it. I find what most other people have to say interesting, and I have noticed that they often have at least a slightly different perspective than I do. So, I do find other people's conversation interesting and thought provoking.

However, I think a may judge as I listen too much. While it is interesting to hear views from another perspective, I think it may be human nature to compare them to one's own ideas, and that inserts the listener's thoughts into the other person's statements in a one-sided way. I do think that with friends, it may be a bit artificial sometimes to only think about what a person is saying from their perspective, because a friend expects you to be fully involved, and that may well include your own opinions and thoughts.