![]() It can improve your life in so many ways.Īnd yet so many people struggle with it. We can’t “hear” the actual sound waves – we can only “hear” the meaning.Ĭommunication is one of the most important skills you can learn. If someone says, “I have to go to the store,” we can hear the words and understand what was meant, but we can’t understand what was said. If we hear “I’m going to the store” but don’t understand what was meant, we can’t respond or interact with the other person. We must add the “meaning” part to truly understand what was said. When someone says, “I’m going to the store,” we can hear that they said it, but we can’t understand what they meant. This is where the “hearing differences” come in. The other half is decoding them and understanding the meaning of what was said. Hearing sounds is only half of the equation. Hearing (receiving) differs from meaning when you add the “meaning” part. Hearing is receiving the sound waves and decoding them. So when someone says, “I’m going to the store,” we can hear that they said it, but we can’t understand what they meant. ![]() This is where “hearing differences” come in. Hearing can be receiving the actual sound waves, or “what was said”, or you can receive the “meaning” of what was said (“what was meant”). It’s not the same as comprehending what you’re hearing. Hearing is the act of receiving a message. When someone is talking to you while you’re daydreaming or thinking about something else, you need to be “here” in the conversation to show that you are listening and paying attention to what the other person is saying. You’re not “here” in the conversation when you’re doing this. You can be “doing” something, but even then, you’re not really “here” in the conversation you’re “here” in your head. You’re “passively” listening – with your mind anywhere else. This is when you let someone else talk without focusing on what they say. You can show active listening by paraphrasing, summarizing, and using open-ended questions to help the other person feel understood. Unfortunately, too many people sit there while someone is talking to them or daydreaming about what they’d like to be doing instead.Īctive listening isn’t about zoning out and hoping the other person will finish talking so you can get back to your thoughts it’s about showing the other person that you are actively listening to them by focusing on what they are saying. It’s been called “the hardest and most important job in communication” because it requires active involvement on the listener’s part. It entails the speaker and the listener focusing on each other, with the speaker being the primary focus. What is active listening?Īctive listening is about putting the other person at the center of your attention and actively focusing on what they say. They both serve a purpose, and each has its usage scenarios however, it’s important to understand their differences so that you’re using them at their best potential in every situation and with every listener (both internal and external). The two most common forms are active and passive listening. You need to know what type of listening you’re doing. Listening is often misunderstood and undervalued: after all, we’ve been listening to people speak for thousands of years without anyone understanding the power of silent communication more than fifty years ago.īut listening isn’t enough on its own. To be an effective communicator, you need to know how to listen it’s one of the most important skills you can have. It’s an essential, yet often overlooked, part of effective communication. ![]() But what’s the difference? Hearing vs Listening.
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