This form of conscious intervention will help you apply some of the techniques I am going to discuss next. Try this: Next time you are in a conversation with someone, it might be interesting to observe which level you use. This level can be achieved with experience and practice. The subtle cues in the form of facial expression and body language enriches the information that helps us get to the underlying message or intent of the conversation. We start to take note of other aspects of the conversation like emotions, tone, reaction, openness to share or reluctance to give information. At this level, we become conscious of our environment and its energy to listen to non-verbal communication. Global listening is an extension of Level 2. As Peter Drucker said “The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn’t said”. In global listening, we listen to learn, beyond words or what’s being said. We do not speak unless we have heard them. We learn to stop our personal filters from attaching additional meaning to their words in the form of judgements.Īt this level, our thoughts may wander away to other activities going on in our mind, but we make a conscious effort to block them out and bring our focus back to the discussion. We take a keen interest in the other person and hear everything they have to say. In focused listening, we listen to understand, channeling all our energy to pay attention to the other person and their words. This is the most natural form of listening and we stay in this mode unless we make an effort to shift to the next level. We hear part of the conversation, miss the critical information and respond at the first chance with our opinions and judgements. These little voices in our head prevents us from focusing on the other person – Last meeting was a waste of time, I need to send that email right after this discussion, I feel so tired and a cup of coffee might help.
Other distractions (both internal and external) also preoccupy our mind as we do not make conscious effort to stop them. Our mind wanders away from listening to the other person to our own voice – I know what this person is going to say, I already have the answers, this doesn’t seem right. We pay more attention to what’s going on inside us and less to the outside. In internal listening, we listen to speak, instantly and unconsciously.Īt this level, what we hear and how we respond is largely influenced by our own thoughts and emotions. We move across these levels depending on our focus area during the conversation. I want to share 3 levels of listening from book Co-Active Coaching that I find very insightful. Covey writes in his book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is so relevant to effective communication “Most people do not listen with the intent to understand they listen with the intent to reply” 3 Levels of Listeningīefore we develop the active listening skills and techniques, it’s crucial to understand the different levels of listening. We do selective listening with the belief that we already know enough and choose to remember only the information relevant to us. Most of the time we simply hear the other person, apply the information in our context and think about what to say next (yes, we do it all the time) even before the other person has finished speaking.Ĭognitive bias impedes our ability to listen to what the other person has to say or in some cases intends to say. Our cognitive biases in the form of personal filters through our thoughts and beliefs can impede communication. Active listening on the other hand unlocks the natural flow from inside to the outside as it builds a connection through trust. The feeling of not being heard can stop people from sharing or withholding useful information thereby preventing us from seeing a better version of reality. It can enable powerful coaching which can lead to better problem solving. Learning to listen in communication unleashes creative energy and enables productive collaboration that forms the basis of meaningful relationships. Active communication requires comprehending the message by going beyond words to intention and non-verbal communication.
Active listening, also called effective or attentive listening is a way of learning through conversation.
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