Listening

Name
Professor
Course
Date
Listening is a common phrase that few can even tell its actual meaning. It’s not a wonder to hear one tell their colleague “you are not listening” while they cannot say what listening is. According to Coakley and Halone (1997), listening is a process of being attentive to an action. There are two types of listening seen in human beings; they include; typical and active listening. Typical listening is the power of perceiving sounds without giving further mind concentration while active listening is a form of listening that utilises all senses and attention to tone and subsequent response to the speaker.
In everyday life active listening is inevitable and though I have utilised it all along. Situations have arisen when I have fallen a victim of failing to use active listening while in another occasion improvement of the same had to be applied. While conversing in the midst of a crowd active has not always been part of me being unable either to capture my speaker’s words or interjection from the crowd fully. Lack of interest has also been a significant blow to active listening as the brain cannot be forced to accept what it doesn’t want. Physical injury and hearing problem that is inborn have also had a significant role in my active listening skill. Nevertheless, in a classroom situation where the lecturer may have no time to go through the course again, receiving warnings or counselling sessions has forced my improvement to active listening.
At every stage of the listening process, we encounter specific barriers that always interfere with our listening (Hargie, 2011).

At the first stage, the recipient gets blocked by the noise that distorts the incoming message. The message might also be complex making it difficult to understand and in the processing of asking a friend the recipient diverts the attention. Natural limits to memory and concentration challenged my remembering in the recalling stage. Environmental factors also proved hectic with temperature and lighting and media multitasking coming to the effect. Prevailing to these barriers was possible by avoiding interruption of my speaker, thinking before answering, eliminating personal perspectives and external distractions. From the above discussions, it is clear that active listening might improve my relationships by managing emotions, requesting clarification, engagement, and interest.

Work cited
Hargie, Owen. “Skilled interpersonal interaction: Research, theory, and practice.” London: Reutledge (2011).
Halone, Kelby K., and Carolyn G. Coakley. “Accounts of effective listening across the life-span: Expectations and experiences associated with competent listening practices.” International Journal of Listening 11.1 (1997): 15-38.