Listening Skills

LISTNEING SKILLS

After attending this lesson, I have learned how to evaluate my present listening skill level, barriers and techniques to improve on listening skills. Exactly “Listening” is an active two way process. By listening you would be able to improve self-esteem, confidence, team work, trust and sense of belonging.

I have learned the ground rules for Effective Listening:

Look interested and Lean
Ignore or Overcome Internal and External Distractions
Suspend Judgments
Tell them what you’ve heard
Experience their side
No interruption

Let me share my experience about LISTENING with you.
In Secondary 2, I was nominated by my teachers to be a student councilor. They felt that I had the qualities to be a good councilor. As I am patient and I could communicate well with my peers.

I have councilled fellow school students and they have taken my advice for the better. To equip us with the correct skills to council, me and my fellow councillors were sent to attend a seminar on how to help those people in need of a listening ear and help them make a rational decision on how to overcome their difficulties.

I had learned so much from the speaker that I am able to improve my listening skills. I learnt that learning to listen takes practice and this skill is not developed overnight
Everyday is a learning process. To listen, you need to be able to focus on what the person has to say even if there are distractions, your facial expression plays an important role that shows if you are interested or not, before giving your opinion, you have to put yourself in the other person’s shoes to understand their situation better.

Never give a direct answer what you feel in that moment. We have to stop and think before we speak. I learnt this lesson the hard way. A friend called me and told that me that she didn’t do well in JC and she wanted to commit suicide and she is unable to handle the pressure from her family. My first response was to laugh as I was so close to her that I felt that she was just joking about it.

The next thing I knew, I received a call the next day informing me that she tried to attempt suicide and she was admitted in hospital. I was very disappointed with myself as I had let a friend down. That day I had a second chance to listen to her problem and I used my skills as a councillor and I heard her problem and I gave my advice to her and I followed up with what I said. I continued to talk to her and was able to help her by listening to her. Eventually with the help of a close friend and family support, she is now a NTU graduate.