Listening
I'm paraphrasing, but it's been said that while people hear, not everyone listens. Listening, as it turns out, is actually quite a skill, and can take time to really master. While wandering around the web, I found this article that outlines 10 steps to effective listening:
http://ltl.learningally.org/Listening-A-Powerful-Skill/Teaching-Listening/Ten-Steps-to-Effective-Listening/76/
Ten Steps to Effective Listening
We live in a very busy, and most often, noisy world. One thing I enjoy, but don't do often enough, is to go into the river valley or find other area away from life's busyness, and just listen. It is remarkable what what you can hear when you take time to listen. I lived in northwest Calgary for a year, and a couple of block from my home was a green space area with several stands of Trembling or Quaking Aspen (Populus tremuloides). Listening to the sound the leaves make as the wind rustles through can be very relaxing.
Another aspect of listening, perhaps the most popular is listening to music. Thanks to the internet there are now numerous ways of finding and listening to music as well as the spoken word. One music service I really like is Spotify. I use it to find a variety of music that suits my mood.
Also extremely popular for listening, is talk programs. Talk programs are available for almost any genre, and I find personally, that with talk programs, they require more actively listening than music.It seems easier to have music on in the background, almost as filler noise, whereas if I have a talk program on I become more focused on that than if I have music playing. As an example, as I write this on a Saturday afternoon, I am listening to an Australian based group call Oka. There music can be listened to online at okausa.bandcamp.com. On the other hand, if I were listening to a talk program I quite enjoy that is broadcast at this time- the Roy Green show: http://roygreenshow.com I would not really be able to focus on getting studying done or school assignments completed. The internet has also created the opportunity to find and listen to programs when and where we want. If I were to see that the Roy Green show was discussing a topic of particular interest to me, then I can go to his website and listen to that program at a time that is convenient for me. I often find when listening to programs such as Roy's that I can often get more understanding than just from hearing the words. By listening to the tone of voice, the cadence and pitch, a lot more can be gained about the topic under discussion.
http://ltl.learningally.org/Listening-A-Powerful-Skill/Teaching-Listening/Ten-Steps-to-Effective-Listening/76/
Ten Steps to Effective Listening
- Face the speaker and maintain eye contact.
- Be attentive.
- Keep an open mind to what you are hearing.
- Try to picture what the speaker is saying.
- Don't interrupt or impose your "solutions" on the speaker.
- Wait for the speaker to pause to ask clarifying questions.
- Ask clarifying questions, not challenging questions. Wait until discussion time to raise your point of view.
- Try to feel and understand what the speaker is feeling.
- Demonstrate you are paying attention to what is being said by providing feedback through nodding your head or saying "Uh huh."
- Pay attention to what isn't said—to feelings, facial expressions, gestures, posture and other nonverbal cues.
We live in a very busy, and most often, noisy world. One thing I enjoy, but don't do often enough, is to go into the river valley or find other area away from life's busyness, and just listen. It is remarkable what what you can hear when you take time to listen. I lived in northwest Calgary for a year, and a couple of block from my home was a green space area with several stands of Trembling or Quaking Aspen (Populus tremuloides). Listening to the sound the leaves make as the wind rustles through can be very relaxing.
Another aspect of listening, perhaps the most popular is listening to music. Thanks to the internet there are now numerous ways of finding and listening to music as well as the spoken word. One music service I really like is Spotify. I use it to find a variety of music that suits my mood.
Also extremely popular for listening, is talk programs. Talk programs are available for almost any genre, and I find personally, that with talk programs, they require more actively listening than music.It seems easier to have music on in the background, almost as filler noise, whereas if I have a talk program on I become more focused on that than if I have music playing. As an example, as I write this on a Saturday afternoon, I am listening to an Australian based group call Oka. There music can be listened to online at okausa.bandcamp.com. On the other hand, if I were listening to a talk program I quite enjoy that is broadcast at this time- the Roy Green show: http://roygreenshow.com I would not really be able to focus on getting studying done or school assignments completed. The internet has also created the opportunity to find and listen to programs when and where we want. If I were to see that the Roy Green show was discussing a topic of particular interest to me, then I can go to his website and listen to that program at a time that is convenient for me. I often find when listening to programs such as Roy's that I can often get more understanding than just from hearing the words. By listening to the tone of voice, the cadence and pitch, a lot more can be gained about the topic under discussion.