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Effective Listening Strategies Paper

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Effective Listening Strategies Paper
LaDonna Landry
BSHS 385
Audra Stinson
June 15, 2015

Effective Listening Strategies Paper Thinking and acting in ways that connect you to a person that is speaking is attentive listening. The benefits of listening are codependent and synergistic not many people are attentive listeners but if they can possess the skill of listening there are many benefits. Some benefits are respect, airtime, information, increased likability, better relationship and clarity. When you are giving you full listening attention you are showing respect and in turn gain the respect of the speaker. If you listen first to the speaker usually the speaker will return the favor. I say usually because it depends upon the individual and what may be going on with them such as self-absorption, stress or other reason that they might not lend their ear as the listener has done. Attentive listening helps to get information so that you can learn more about the person. The more you know about the individual the more you can do to assist them. People like to be listened to the more you listen to people the more you like them and the more you listen to the person talking the more they began to like you just for the fact that you listened. Listening creates a feeling of goodwill in relationships. If you are to listen to others problems non-judgmentally this gives the individual a chance to hear themselves and possibly find their own solution to their problem. Listening also helps to avoid confusion, conflict and misunderstandings that are common during conversations. When we listen attentively we are to assume we hear and understand the speaker but do not verify that we have. When we just listen we are interested in what is being felt, though or said by the speaker. Listening is distinguished for attentive listening by actively checking out what we understand of what is being conveyed by the speaker by restating their message. The qualities of a good listener would be that the listener looks at the speaker, ask questions when necessary, responds frequently, stays on subject, keeps their emotions under control and never interrupts. When someone is attentive listening you will notice that they are not speaking as the speaker is speaking. They will clarify after the person has finished talking what they heard to ensure they received the message accurately. The listener is relaxed and focusing on the speaker and the message that is being communicated. The listener can put the speaker at ease to speak by a simple head nod, eye contact or word(s) of encouragement. Distractions such as shuffling papers, tapping of the fingers or doodling are nonexistent as it can send the wrong message to the speaker and watch. The way that I would demonstrate attentive listen with a client would be to not multi-task giving the client my full attention. I would make sure that my posture is displaying that of a person that is listening. I would keep eye contact with the client as long as they are comfortable with me having eye contact with them. Once the client has reached a stopping point I would recap on facts briefly. I will chose use words for connections to let them know I am connecting to the message they are trying to get out by using words like “OK” and “yeah”. When I think about roadblocks that might affect my ability to attentively listen to a client I would have to start with yielding to distractions. I am usually more than often affected by things around me. It could be a door closing, a person sneezing and me having to say bless you, someone dropping something and me feeling the need to help them pick it up to the phone ringing. I feel like I would be able to overcome this by shutting my office door when I am with a client, putting anything that is in reach that would distract me off my desk and forward my phone to the receptionist to take messages. Another road block for me would be jumping to conclusions. Often times I think that I know what a person is going to say before they even finish. This isn’t a good sign because I must stay opened minded to the message until I have heard it in entirety and not be biased towards the speaker. I can overcome this roadblock by completely hearing the person speaking out and before deciding to reject or accept try to understand their point of view. Interrupting would be another road block for me. I have to be honest and say that I when I am listening to people I seem to be in deep thought about what I want to say in response. This I know is bad because it will lead the client to believe that I do not care about what they are saying which is not true because I do care. I believe I can overcome this roadblock by putting myself in their shoes, wait for an opening to speak and taking time to think about what has been said before I respond. Attentive listening is very important when dealing with clients. Listening and watching the nonverbal communication of a client can tell you a lot about the client. Their words may be saying one thing and their body another. To effectively help a client you must listen to the message that they are conveying. The inability to listen will in some cases cause a client to regress rather than progress.

References
Burley-Allen, M. (1995). Listening: The forgotten skill: A self-teaching fuide. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons Inc.
Newton, A. T. (2015). Essentials of active listening. Colorado Springs, CO: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.
Evans, D.R., Hearn, M.T., Uhlemann, M.R., & Ivey, A.E. (2011). Essential interviewing: A programmed approach to effective communication (8th ed.). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole.

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