Page 199 - Effective Communication Soft Skills Strategies For Success by Nitin Bhatnagar, Mamta Bhatnagar

Project Name: Manual for Soft Skills
ACE Pro India Pvt. Ltd.
\\mtpdy01\Womat\Indesign\Bhatnagar-Manual for Soft skills\06-Pagination\06-A-Finals\06-AA-Appl\Bhatnagar_Chapter 09.indd

Communication: Spoken English | 187

• Can improve good relationship with people.
• Can raise people’s morale.
• Can obtain suggestions and new ideas.
• Can know why people perform as well as or as poorly as they do.
• Can solve problems and face situations that present perplexity with a
composed state of mind.

Improving Listening Skills
Some positive habits can be cultivated to improve listening. First of all, you
must pay full attention to the speaker. This concentration is helped by alert-
ness of the mind and the body. If you are determined to pay attention, you
can train and discipline your mind and body to get into the listening mode.
Training for good listening is largely a personal responsibility and can be
achieved with personal effort. Listening skills can be improved by following
some of the strategies given below.

Maintain Eye Contact

Eye contact helps the listener to remain focused and helps to feel involved.

Interpret the Speaker’s Nonverbal Signs
The ears are not enough to listen to the message completely. We need the
eyes as well. The speaker’s body language can tell a lot about the state of his/
her mind. Facial expressions, gestures and posture, tone and pitch of the
voice help the listener to have an idea about the enthusiasm, excitement,
anger or fear, nervousness, or impatience of the speaker.

Avoid Interrupting the Speaker

It is not possible to listen effectively while talking.

Ask Questions
If you are not sure of what the speaker is saying, ask. But do not ask ques-
tions randomly. Ask at suitable moments to get a clear perception. It is quite
acceptable to ask ‘Do you mean. . . ?’

Avoid Being Judgemental
Keep an open mind; do not jump to conclusions. Avoid making any judgment
until the speaker has completed speaking.

Bhatnagar_Chapter 09.indd 187 2011-06-23 7:52:55 PM
Modified Date: Thu, Jun 23, 2011 07:50:03 PM Output Date: Thu, Jun 23, 2011 07:52:54 PM
TEMPLATE Page Number: PB