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Listening refers to the process of hearing and understanding a message. It can be music, speech, discussion, or any kind of verbal communication. Listening is one of the most frequently used skills in our daily lives. Good listeners are those who listen with understanding.

Generally, it is assumed to be a natural and an in-built skill; however, it is a complicated process that requires mental and physical activities. It is highly essential to develop the listening skills for enhancing the communication process. Nearly 80% of each day is spent on listening and yet we are required to take efforts to make it effective. Skilled listening allows you to step into the other person's shoes and respond appropriately. An appropriate response states the speaker's feelings and content in a way that demonstrates acceptance and understanding that reflects what you heard the speaker say.

Types of Listening: Different situations call for different listening skills, and in general, there are three main types of listening: -

Content Listening is to understand and retain the speaker's message;
Critical Listening is to understand and evaluate the meaning of the speaker's message on several levels like the logic, validity, implications, etc.; and
Empathetic Listening is to understand the speaker's feelings, needs, wants, so that you can appreciate the views.

Each type of listening is most effective in particular situations. To gain better control of your listening skill, examine what happens during the listening process.

Reasons for Poor Listening: There are various reasons found among people for not listening effectively. It may be lack of interest in the topic, dislike towards the speaker, not in a mood to listen, some ailments that hinder the process, or even lack of knowledge that makes you confused and diverted too. However, listening is an art and through constant efforts and practice, one can achieve success.

Listening is a Part of Communication: Listening and communicating go hand-in-hand. Effective listening leads to achieve excellence in communication. Good listeners are good communicators. Poor listening is always identified to be the main reason for mis-communicative situations or chaos or conflicts in any environment. So listening plays an essential role in all the communicative situations.

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* Mrs. Thamaraiselvi Rajmohan is currently involved in Ph.D. Thesis on Gender Communication, and has been freelancing to magazines and journals since 1990. Earlier, she has had industrial experience as an Executive in marketing & finance area, teaching experience in business schools, also experience of corporate teaching & training in management areas.