1. Listening Effectively
to Others
Two levels:
Content- What they say.
Relational-How they say what they say. It
conveys feelings, emotion, & attitude
2. Listening – Why?
O Information is useless if it is not used.
O Knowledge is information made useful.
O Listening – helps us transform information
to knowledge as we understand and use
the information.
4. STOP!
O Disengage from things competing for attention
O Physically and mentally – turn off phone, stop
working at the computer, etc.
O Use the SOLER Method
O S: Squarely face the person.
O O: Open the body position. (unfold arms)
O L: Lean toward the person
O E: Eye contact
O R: Relax
5. LOOK!
O “Listen” with your eyes
O We decode and interpret relational
messages with our eyes.
O In the workplace people don’t always
speak their mind, we must “read” them
visually.
O If we are not looking we may miss
important cues given by their body
language.
6. LISTEN!
O Listen to what they are saying
O There are different listening styles.
Knowing what listening style you are can
help you listen more effectively. Some
prefer:
O The whole picture and then details, while
others like:
O The details and then whole picture.
7. Listening
O It is hard to listen if you are thinking of
what you will say next
O Example – when conducting the interview, I
found it difficult to focus on what was being
said and hard not to think about what to
ask next.
O Listening is other centered not self
centered.
8. To listen well
O Listen for main ideas
O If you struggle to get the main points - ask
yourself prequestions. (pg. 80)
O Listen for details
O If you miss the details – ask!
O Link the main ideas with the details
O Use elaboration strategies (pg 80 ) and
listen actively
9. Discussion Questions
O How do you prepare yourself to listen?
O In what ways has looking at a person
while they were speaking increased your
understanding of what they were saying?
