Listening

Listening is the most important skill you should have.

How well you listen has a major impact on your job effectiveness, and on the quality of your relationships with others. For instance:

·  We listen to obtain information.

·  We listen to understand.

·  We listen for enjoyment.

·  We listen to learn.

Given all this listening we do, you would think we'd be good at it! In fact most of us are not, and research suggests that we remember between 25 percent and 50 percent of what we hear. That means that when you talk to your boss, colleagues, customers or spouse for 10 minutes, they pay attention to less than half of the conversation. This is dismal!

Turn it around and it reveals that when you are receiving directions or being presented with information, you aren't hearing the whole message either. You hope the important parts are captured in your 25-50 percent, but what if they're not?

Clearly, listening is a skill that we can all benefit from improving. By becoming a better listener, you will improve your productivity, as well as your ability to influence, persuade and negotiate. What's more, you'll avoid conflict and misunderstandings. All of these are necessary for workplace success!

The way to improve your listening skills is to practice "active listening." This is where you make a conscious effort to hear not only the words that another person is saying but, more importantly, try to understand the complete message being sent.

In order to do this you must pay attention to the other person very carefully.

You cannot allow yourself to become distracted by whatever else may be going on around you, or by forming counter arguments that you'll make when the other person stops speaking. Nor can you allow yourself to get bored, and lose focus on what the other person is saying. All of these contribute to a lack of listening and understanding.

To enhance your listening skills, you need to let the other person know that you are listening to what he or she is saying. To understand the importance of this, ask yourself if you've ever been engaged in a conversation when you wondered if the other person was listening to what you were saying. You wonder if your message is getting across, or if it's even worthwhile continuing to speak. It feels like talking to a brick wall and it's something you want to avoid.

https://www.mindtools.com/CommSkll/ActiveListening.htm

Listening 8

Listening 7

TEST 7

Questions 1-7  

Listen to a conversation between two employees at Harper Company and complete the conversation.

Employee 1: None of my programs have online access.

Employee 2:  What about 1)_______    _________?

Employee 1: The browser opens, but I can’t access any websites. Most importantly, I can’t use the e-mail client.

Employee 2:  That’s a big problem.

Employee 1: I know, I think I have a 2)  _______.

Employee 2:  Are you sure? The company’s new antivirus 3) ______ is pretty powerful.

Employee 1: I know, and which has got a 4)  _______.

Employee 2: Oh, the firewall. How high are your settings?

Employee 1: 5) as    _________    as  6)  _________.

Employee 2: 7) ________   your problem. You need to lower the level if you want your programs to work.

Questions 8-10           Mark the following statements as true (T) or false (F).

1.      The antivirus software is causing the employee’s problems.  ______

2.      The browser can’t access any online information.                  ______

3.      The employee’s firewall settings are too strict.                       ______

Listening 6

TEST 6

Tip Strip

Question 3: You will hear the information about the main road and its number

                                    before the information you need to answer

Question 3: Notice that the preposition in is written before the gap.

Question 10: The woman introduces this topic, but you need to

listen to the man's reply for the exact word you need.

Questions 1-10                       Complete the form below.

Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER

for each answer.          “Report on abandoned vehicle”

Example                                                              Answer                                                               

Name of caller                                     Mrs. Shefford

Address                                               41,     1 ………        ………           ………

Barrowdale     (post code) WH4 5JP

Telephone                                                        2      ………….. ,  near mean road (A69)

Vehicle location                                            in 3 (a)  ………….. 

Type of vehicle                                                4      (a)  …………..          

Make                                                               Catala

Model                                                             5      (a)  …………..           …………..     

Present colour of vehicle                                   6      …………..     

Vehicle number                                               S322GEC

General condition                          poor - one 7   …………..      ,

cracked windscreen

Length of time at site                                      8      …………..     

Land belongs to                                              9      ………  ………  ………  

Last owner                                                      no information available

Other notes                                                     vehicle does not belong to  
                                                                  a 10  …………..      resident