We all believe we are good listeners, but the truth is we are not, this overview, will help you build confidence and make impact, simple content and relevant to anyone who wants to improve their communication skills.

1. ICCSP1
Listening Skills
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2. ICCSP2
What is listening
 It is not listening to some things and not others
 It is your ability to focus your mind on what the other
person is saying.
 Physically hear what is being said;
 Understand it; and
 Remember it.

3. ICCSP3
The costs of poor listening are
staggering
 – rework, missed deadlines, poor employee
satisfaction and employee relations, lost sales,
and compromised customer relations. In
business, poor listening can be very expensive.
 It doesn’t matter whether you’re managing,
negotiating, supervising, or selling – you’re going
to be more effective by listening than by talking.

4. ICCSP4
Use Listening noises
 Understanding listening noises you could show others you are attentive:
Uh huh
 I see
 Right
 OK
 I understand
 You could use listening noises:
 To show that you are paying attention
 Repeat names, telephone numbers and e-mail addresses back to the caller
 Summarise and double check all information gained
 Avoid passing requests from department to department, but if you must,
reassure the callers that you will pass their details on to the correct person.

5. ICCSP5
Fact
 Immediately following a speech, the average listener
comprehends approximately 50% of what he/she
hears;
 Within 1 day, the comprehension level has dropped
to 46% or less;
 After one week we have forgotten 65%, and after 14
days we have forgotten 80% of what we have heard.

6. ICCSP6
Ineffective Listening Habits
 Interrupting
 Not acknowledging underlying feelings
 Getting defensive
 Problem-solving without permission
 One-upping
 Pretending to listen; thinking about other things
 Projecting our own experiences on the speaker
 Daydreaming
 Considering others persons topic to be unimportant
 Selective hearing - hearing only what we want to hear
 Jumping to conclusions
 Planning our replies while the other person is still speaking
 Beliefs about listening being unimportant
 Having too much else on our minds
 Rejecting statements that do not align with our personal opinion
 Boredom
 Negative Self Talk
 Being The Expert
 Individual bias and prejudice
 Preoccupation, boredom and shrinking attention spans
 Monopolizing-Hogging the stage by continuously focusing communication on ourselves instead of the person who is talking
 Defensive Listening- Perceiving personal attacks, criticism, or hostile undertones in communication where none is intended.
 Ambushing- Listening carefully for the purpose of attacking the other speaker
 Literal Listening-Listening only to the content level of meaning and ignoring the relationship level of meaning.

7. ICCSP7
Listening helps build rapport
 People enjoy listening to others they like,
by establishing and maintaining good
relationships you greatly increase your
chances of achieving your targets for
effective communication.

8. ICCSP8
Active listening builds rapport
 The genuine desire to understand another
person's perception
 Listening and expressing - understanding of
what another person has said
 Sensitivity to another's thoughts and feelings

9. ICCSP9
Levels of Listening
 Awareness: making sense of sounds and distinguish words but
don’t necessarily understand or analyse them.
 Understand: you go beyond just hearing the words to really
understanding what they mean and what is being said.
 Analysis: you analyse what’s being said, distinguish fact from fiction
and weigh up further options and opportunities associated with the
content, requiring concentration and energy.
 Empathy: you understand what is being said from the speaker’s
point of view, requiring skill and concentration, especially important
when dealing with objections, criticisms or complaints.

10. ICCSP10
The BREAKTHROUGH listening model
 Consists of four steps you can take to
improving your listening:
 Prepare yourself and mind – stop and think
 Focus – energise yourself
 Demonstrate listening
 Summarising and recap - clarify.

11. ICCSP11
Techniques to improve listening
 Stay alert: - Prepare yourself, think about your opening
sentence and anticipate
 Respond: - Encourage others to keep talking by the occasional
listening noise but don’t over do it
 Concentrate: - Try to cut out your own preoccupations and
distractions such as the view from your window or other people in
the background
 Listen for themes: - Focus on the meaning of what is being
said, not just the words themselves, and link key ideas to your
own purpose, knowledge and experience