Effective Listening Strategies Paper
Laura Bedford Harper
BSHS 385
Connie Cucuzza
September 21, 2015

Effective listening is more than just hearing what an individual is saying. Effective listening is letting go of all distractions and focusing solely on the verbal and nonverbal. Through using understandable language, detaching self from solution oriented listening and applying active listening skills. A listener will be better equip to understand and aid the speaker when the time comes.
In Blyth's article from 2012, he spoke with the emphasis on word count. He expressed that for listeners to comprehend, two hundred and fifty words per minute is suggested, and however, one hundred and twenty-seven is optimal. To prove his theory, Blyth used compound words for which the listeners may not have to understand, therefore stopping to see if they were following and reading their body language. This concept resulted in comprehension of the word or giving up in attempting to understand. By doing this study, listeners missed out on what was being said during this contemplative process.
Blyth went on stressing the importance of the audience comprehension of what is being said by the speaker. Floyd (2011) states that listeners develop their meaning from the dialogue, and that is presented.
However, researchers suggest that the assumption of listening skills can be similar to those of reading skills. Blyth disagrees with this theory and states that when reading the individual can read and re-read the material until they have an understanding. Therefore, when listening, you get one chance to understand and comprehend.

My opinion on this article was very interesting. I always felt that it do not take a lot of words to convey a message. I have listened to an individual give a speech and use big complicated words. In using those words, I get lost and tune out most of what is being said. I also agree with the concept that reading skills and listening skills are separate. While reading, you can read the material until you get an understanding.
This article was more insightful than expected. Although Floyd mention the concept of listening and word comprehension, he gave no more information to expand further on the subject. This article will help in working with clients and using basic everyday language. As a worker, I do not have to go on in on talking and not accomplishing anything. If the client I am working with is having a problem understanding the spoken language, I can refer to reading material. In this case, using the reading material will allow the client to read it several times and get their understanding to enable us to move forward in the interviewing process.
My second article is published by Nursing Forum, Browning et.al (2010) discussing the empathic aspect of listening. The authors suggest that academic training is the least quality expressed in the human service professions. The emphasis on the writing denotes the importance of not hearing a client but also taking the time to understand and attend the story they are sharing. Preoccupation with one's agenda, responsibilities and obligations are empathize by Browning et. al and those are the little things that can hinder a client from being understood. The Just Listen project is the key point of this forum, explaining what it means just to listen. Listening comes with practicing, reflective, active and empathetic listening skills. A worker can fully understand their client by asking applicable questions to deepen their understanding. When the worker gets a better understanding, they can adequately assess and help the client meet their need.
What gain my attention while reading this article was the fact that we should listen without our egos or having the "I can fix this mentality." Removing the mindset of I can fix this and only just hearing the client tell their story will do a greater service.
Being in school and learning so many different strategies and skills, I question how I go about helping the client. I know to listen and allow them to tell their story but we are instructed to give no subjective points. I believe I will use the practice of instead of trying to fix or find a solution, I should just listen to the problem.
In the article written by Boyd, The Human Side of Teaching he demonstrated the epitome of listeners today. Listeners in today's fast paced society utilize multi-tasking to get things accomplished at once. Effective listening is more than just hearing what an individual is saying. Effective listening is letting go of all distractions and focusing solely on the verbal and nonverbal. Through using understandable language, detaching self from solution oriented listening and applying active listening skills. A listener will be better equip to understand and aid the speaker when the time comes.

In Blyth's article from 2012, he spoke with the emphasis on word count. He expressed that for listeners to comprehend, two hundred and fifty words per minute is suggested however one hundred and twenty-seven is optimal. To prove his theory, Blyth used compound words for which the listeners may not have to understand, therefore stopping to see if they were following and reading their body language. This concept resulted in comprehension of the word or giving up in attempting to understand. By doing this study, listeners missed out on what was being said during this contemplative process.
Blyth went on stressing the importance of the audience comprehension of what is being said by the speaker. Floyd (2011) states that listeners develop their meaning from the dialogue, and that is presented.
However, researchers suggest that the assumption of listening skills can be similar to those of reading skills. Blyth disagrees with this theory and states that when reading the individual can read and re-read the material until they have an understanding. Therefore, when listening, you get one chance to understand and comprehend.

My opinion on this article was very interesting. I always felt that it do not take a lot of words to convey a message. I have listened to an individual give a speech and use big complicated words. In using those words, I get lost and tune out most of what is being said. I also agree with the concept that reading skills and listening skills are separate. While reading, you can read the material until you get an understanding.
This article was more insightful than expected. Although Floyd mention the concept of listening and word comprehension, he gave no more information to expand further on the subject. This article will help in working with clients and using basic everyday language. As a worker, I do not have to go on in on talking and not accomplishing anything. If the client I am working with is having a problem understanding the spoken language, I can refer to reading material. In this case, using the reading material will allow the client to read it several times and get their understanding to enable us to move forward in the interviewing process.
My second article is published by Nursing Forum, Browning et.al (2010) discussing the empathic aspect of listening. The authors suggest that academic training is the least quality expressed in the human service professions. The emphasis on the writing denotes the importance of not hearing a client but also taking the time to understand the story they are sharing. Preoccupation with one's agenda, responsibilities and obligations are empathize by Browning et. al and those are the little things that can hinder a client from being understood. The Just Listen project is the key point of this forum, explaining what it means just to listen. Listening comes with practicing, reflective, active and empathetic listening skills. A worker can fully understand their client by asking applicable questions to deepen their understanding. When the worker gets a better understanding, they can adequately assess and help the client meet their need.
What grasp my attention while reading this article was the fact that we should listen without having, without our egos or having the "I can fix this mentality." Removing the mindset of I can fix this and simply just hearing the client tell their story will do a greater service.
The article written by Boyd demonstrate the epitome of listeners today. In the current fast-paced society, listeners utilize multi-tasking to get the job done. Taking the time actually to focus on someone speaking should be the objective of the speaker. The learned concept of multi-tasking has taken away the ability just to stop and hear what the person is saying. Listening should be the focus to ensure comprehension and summarization of what the person is saying.
I enjoyed this article because it is telling us to stop and listen. Stop multi-tasking to get things done quickly. When we are rushing to do things we miss the smaller pieces to the puzzle.
As demonstrated in the articles above, as the listener it is important to listen to the speaker. Through empathy, understanding and being attentive allows the speaker to feel confident in conveying their message. As a Human Service Professional, my interpretation of the speakers' message becomes vital in understanding the message and positively impacting the helping process.

References
Blyth A. (2012, February). Extensive Listening Versus Listening Strategies. Siegel. ELT Journal, 66(2), 236-239.
Boyd, S. (2001, October). The Human Side of Teaching: Effective Listening. 60-61.
Browning, S. Esq, & Waite, Roberta, EdD, A.P.R.N., C.N.S.-B.C. (2010). JUST Listening Strategies. Nursing Forum, 45(3), 150-8.
Floyd, K. (2011). Interpersonal communication (2nd ed.). New York. NY.