Listening is not a skill that just happens, it needs a conscious effort to nurture and develop it. The way we pay attention to what people say shows the relationship with the individual.
• Active Listening- Active listening is where full concentration is paid to what the speaker is saying. Here there is a deep engagement with the speaker and this is expressed through several verbal and non-verbal cues. This could be particularly observed in a classroom atmosphere. Active listening is very important for students and has several positive outcomes. This means listening with all senses and can be acquired and developed with practice. Non-verbal clues like maintaining an eye-contact, nodding your head, giving a smile, etc could indicate your interest and encourage the speaker. A posture like leaning slightly forward also shows attentiveness on the part of the listener. Verbal indications like remembering the name of the speaker, idea or the concepts conveyed during the previous conversation is an encouraging factor. Raising questions is another aspect which not only shows the concentration of the listener but also his interest in clarifying doubts and widening the knowledge. Reflection is another method where the message is nearly repeated by paraphrasing the message said by the speaker and demonstrating interest and understanding. Summarizing is another technique in which the main points of the message are reiterated logically. Engagement with the speaker could be done in any of these methods. Lack of these signals could dissuade the speaker or make him feel that he is boring. Active listening is a process which demands patience, practice and motivation to listen. People from varied fields like leaders, entrepreneurs, students, managers need to practice active listening for effective communication.
• Comprehensive listening- In Comprehensive listening, we pay attention to comprehend or understand the message delivered by the speaker. This involves the use of cognitive skills and is based on one’s knowledge and perception. It eventually varies from person to person. For better comprehensive listening, we should have good vocabulary skills, for this one should be active and focused on interpreting the main idea of the speaker. Listening to television news or attending a lecture may be an example of a comprehensive listening.
• Discriminative Listening- This is the basic form of listening, where much attention is not paid in interpreting the words. Here, the listener discriminates or distinguishes the sounds of the words spoken by the speaker. In this type, the prime focus is paid to the paralinguistic cues like accents, stress, pronunciation of words, etc. For example, when a baby hears someone speaking, it first pays attention to distinguish or identify its mother’s voice. It does not have the ability to understand the meaning of the words, but it listens to the sound just to make out who the speaker is. This is also adopted by non-native speakers of a language. Such type of listening helps us understand the mood of the speaker when keen attention is paid to the tone. As we grow by age, we develop the ability to identify the subtle differences in the way sounds are made or words are pronounced. These subtleties make us understand if the person who is speaking is happy or sad. This type of listening combined with visual stimuli like body language helps one to comprehend the message rightly in every aspect.
• Critical Listening- Critical listening is where the speaker listens understands and evaluates the message by analysing it. Since the message received is judged, it is an intellectual process and demands a deep concentration and understanding of what is said. Psychiatrist, lawyers and people adopt this type of listening in the business field, education sector, etc where they grasp the points immediately and keep it streamlined and efficient. By being critical in listening it enables one to scan through the vitality of message which enables in the quick decision-making process and quicker analysis of the problem. Critical listening is a skill greatly needed in highly stressful situations and things related to finance. etc. One needs to master the art of critical listening and critical thinking to scrutinize the fact amidst several opinions and exaggerations. Separating facts from opinion is vital to judging the quality of evidence. When a person develops the ability to think rationally, he can understand the logical connections between ideas reflect on one’s own beliefs and systematically solve problems. Here one should understand the message along with its context and consequently evaluate the message.
• Appreciative Listening- Appreciative listening is listening for pleasure or enjoyment. This is where the listener is active to information or facts which he is interested in. It may be anything that helps a person to achieve his goal or something entertaining. We use appreciative listening while listening to good music, motivational speech, poetry or anything pertaining to one’s interest. This again varies from person to person according to the individual’s perception. It also depends on factors like presentation and previous experience. For instance, a motivational speaker on the stage creates an impact on the audience not only by his speech but also by his personality, voice and delivery style which entrances the listener. On the other hand, if we have encountered a bitter experience with the same speaker, whatever he says will be looked upon in a biased manner, unappreciatively. Appreciative listening is essential for partnerships or to make any relationship work.
• Sympathetic listening- Sympathetic listening is listening with sympathy, showing involvement and attempting to show understanding, compassion and support. When someone from our friend’s circle or a close family member is in a difficult situation like a loss in business or separation from a dear one, we use this type of listening to show our concern for them. Here the listener tries to show that he understands the pain of the speaker and what he is going through. This is better conveyed through suitable body language accompanied by the verbal message. Being a good listener helps the other person relax and have confidence in you.
• Empathetic Listening- Empathetic listening is where one tries to understand the problem of the other person by placing oneself in the shoes of the other. In this type, the listener tries to understand the situation by raising a series of questions which will bring several factors to light. This is the highest degree of understanding not as an observer but experiencing the feelings ourselves. In a close relationship, feeling others pain or pleasure is a great sign of love or care for them. Empathetic listening is also called as therapeutic listening, where the listener, like a therapist, tries to bring the speaker out of the situation by the way of counselling, or advising without being judgmental.