The Definition of Listening and How to Do It Well

The Definition of Listening and How to Do It Well Listening is the active process of receiving and responding to spoken (and sometimes unspoken) messages. It is one of the subjects studied in the field of language arts and in the discipline of conversation analysis. Listening is not just hearing what the other party in the conversation has to say. Listening means taking a vigorous, human interest in  what is being told us, said poet  Alice Duer Miller. You can  listen like a blank wall  or like a splendid auditorium where every sound comes back fuller and richer. Elements and Levels of Listening Author Marvin Gottlieb cites four elements of good listening: Attention- the focused perception of both visual and verbal stimuliHearing- the physiological act of opening the gates to your earsUnderstanding- assigning meaning to the messages receivedRemembering- the  storing  of meaningful information (Managing Group Process. Praeger, 2003) He also cites four levels of listening: acknowledging, sympathizing, paraphrasing, and empathizing. The four levels of listening range from passive to interactive when considered separately. However, the most effective listeners are able to project all four levels at the same time. That means they show theyre paying attention, they show interest, and they convey they are working to understand the speakers message. Active Listening An active listener not only pays attention but withholds judgment during the speakers turn and reflects on whats being said. S.I. Hayakawa notes in The Use and Misuse of Language that an active listener is curious about and open to the speakers views, wants to understand his or her points, and so asks questions to clarify whats being said. An unbiased listener ensures that the questions are neutral, without skepticism or hostility. [L]istening does not mean simply maintaining a polite silence while you are rehearsing in your mind the speech you are going to make the next time you can grab a conversational opening. Nor does listening mean waiting alertly for the flaws in the other fellows argument so that later you can mow him down, Hayakawa said. Listening means trying to see the problem the way the speaker sees it- which means not sympathy, which is feeling for him, but empathy, which is experiencing with him. Listening requires entering actively and imaginatively into the other fellows situation and trying to understand a frame of reference different from your own. This is not always an easy task. (How to Attend a Conference in The Use and Misuse of Language. Fawcett Premier, 1962) Impediments to Listening A basic communication loop has a message going from a sender to a receiver and feedback (such as acknowledgment of understanding, e.g., a nod) going from the receiver to the speaker. A lot can get in the way of a message being received, including distraction or fatigue on the part of the listener, the receiver prejudging the speakers argument or information, or a lack of context or commonality to be able to understand the message. Difficulty in hearing the speaker could also be an impediment, though thats not always the fault of the listener. Too much jargon on the part of the speaker can also impede the message. "Listening" to Other Cues When communicating, body language (including cultural cues) and tone of voice can also relay information to the listener, so in-person communication can send more layers of information about the topic being relayed than a voice-only means or a text-only method. The receiver, of course, has to be able to properly interpret the nonverbal signs to avoid subtext misunderstandings. Keys to Effective Listening Here are a dozen tips to being an effective active listener: Maintain eye contact with the speaker if possible.Pay attention and listen for ideas.Find areas of interest.Judge content, not delivery.Dont interrupt, and be patient.Hold back your points or counterpoints.Resist distractions.Pay attention to nonverbal information.Keep your mind open, and be flexible.Ask questions during pauses and give feedback.Listen with empathy to try and see the speakers viewpoint.Anticipate, summarize, weigh the evidence, and look between the lines.

Covering Letter (Jobs) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Covering Letter (Jobs) - Essay Example As I am a graduate in International Accounting from the Shanghai Maritime University, I have knowledge of the key accounting processes along with their legal requirements and managerial applications. I have also completed one year Pre-Master Program on International Finance and Business from Renmin University of China. This program helped me to develop business communication skills and understand the global business standards better. I am quite comfortable in a multicultural environment and appreciate the essence of globalization from a practical point of view. I am fluent in both English and Mandarin, and the university life at Keele has helped me to develop ample team spirit and research skills. Last but not least, I have job experience at Dong Xing Stock Company, Beijing through the internship programs conducted by Shanghai Maritime University. Here, I acquired practical knowledge of stock market analysis and various accounting operations. I am looking forward to optimally utilize and implement my academic knowledge and professional experience so that I can embark on a winning career in financial management. I am available from Monday to Friday (full time) for an interview and I will be greatly obliged if I am given a full time opportunity at your organization. Hope for a positive response from

Finances Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Finances - Assignment Example This is where the knowledge of budgeting and finances come in as one needs to be able to figure out the needs of the hospital and prioritize them in order starting with what is needed the most going down and use this knowledge together with the budget they have been given to spend to determine the best way to utilize the money that has been handed to them What Has Been Your Exposure to Your Organization’s financial statements? Who In Your Organization Might Provide You with Your Organization’s Financial Statements? What Is This Information Used For? The amount of exposure to the organization’s financial statements has mostly occurred from the budgeting and shopping activities that are done for medical supplies when the time for replenishing the available stock arises. During this period, the hospital present us (the nurses) with the amount of money that they are able to provide for these activities and using the size of the budget, one is able to determine whether the hospital’s financial status has improved, remained the same or even dwindled since the last time such an activity took place (Paul, 2008). If a hospital has done well then the size of the budget is more likely to increase while no change in the budget may mean there is no change in their finances either and so on. There are a number of individuals that present the nurses with the financial statements of the organization who include the Program administrators and ward managers during budgeting and the chief financers when a review of the annual expend iture takes place. These statements are used to show the gains and losses that have been incurred during the year as well as budget for the next batch of medical supplies that are needed. The accounting system affects the different parts of the organization as a whole as it deals with the organization’s entire financial flow. Firstly, it will affect the speed with which

Data Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Data Analysis - Essay Example these variables in each institution, variables in clued job knowledge, communication and English skills, quality of work, cooperation, punctuality and attendance, productivity and initiative. All these variables are important to an organization and will determine the profitability and productivity of an organization, an organization that employs workers with required job knowledge, good communication skills and computer skills are much more likely to have competitive advantage over the others, also these organization will increase their productivity which means that less inputs will be needed in terms of labor hours top accomplish certain tasks, as a result the organization will tend to record higher profits. Using the data collected we use a scale to quantify this data and determine the institution that records higher values for each variable, the higher the value means that the institution is more efficient in providing these skills to their students. This information will help these institutions to improve on their weaknesses and also it will be important to employing organizations whereby they will be in a position to choose the best institution to undertake training. The first step was to prepare a questionnaire that would be appropriate in collecting required data, the aim of this study was to identify the strengths and weaknesses of each organization in training students, therefore the questionnaire had to include measures of the job knowledge, productivity, communication and other personal qualities. The questionnaire was pretested to rectify any biasness and when the questionnaires were ready they were given to the respondents. The population was then identified in order to determine the sample size. The population used in this study was the organizations whose training sites were the three training institutes which amounted to 37 organizations. A random sample of 50 respondents was selected from the organizations and questionnaires were emailed.

Homeostatic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Homeostatic - Essay Example For a single cell to work, the conditions must be stable. For example, if the water content of the body is too high or low i.e. high or low osmotic pressure would make the cells either shrink or swell leading to cellular death and a vicious cycle leading to tissue destruction and so on. Similarly cellular enzymes require an optimum and stable pH for them to work and degrade food products to simple carbohydrates, fats and amino acids for the body to produce energy. These are just two of many examples of why the human body needs stable internal environment (Brodie, 2005). 2.1 Identify and describe the components required for a homeostatic feedback mechanism. As mentioned earlier, the human body is composed of many systems and these systems work in coordination with each other in order for it to work normally. These systems require stable internal conditions and whenever these internal conditions are disturbed; there is a feedback system which acts immediately to get this disturbed inte rnal environment back to normal. This feedback system includes mainly of receptors in some areas which when sense in disturbance in the normal conditions activate immediately and send signal to the appropriate centres (Guyton, 2011). These signals could be transmitted through 1) Nerve cells e.g. vagus nerve sending signal to the brain and control heart rate 2) hormones e.g. renin which is released by kidneys either when there is a disturbance in the blood pressure due to water content of the body. Renin ten causes the formation of angiotensin 1 and 2 and control water content of urine. Hormones and nerve cells have a major role in this feedback mechanism. Hormones such as adrenaline, insulin, thyroxin and acetylcholine are some of the major hormones in homeostatic feedback mechanism in controlling heart rate, blood sugar levels, metabolism and many other functions. Nerve cells on the other hand provide feedback mechanism by transmitting signals directly to the brain which then trans mits signals back by nerve cells again to appropriate centres or causes the release of hormones to bring the body back to stability. Nerve cells also act by sending signals to the endocrine or exocrine glands present at certain locations in the body and cause direct release of hormones or other secretions (Guyton, 2011). 3.1 Describe the mechanisms involved in body temperature regulation. Regulation of body temperature is one of the most important homeostatic functions of the body as all the bodily enzymes and other systems require an optimum temperature i.e.98.6f to work normally. This most important function is performed by the temperature regulation centre present in the Hypothalamus in the brain. Whenever an increase or decrease in the body temperature is detected by the receptors present in peripheral regions of the body, immediate signals are transmitted to the hypothalamus which then sends signals to all the parts of the body for its regulations. In case of an increased inter nal temperature the hypothalamus sends signals to the peripheral blood vessels located mainly in the skin which dilate causing more blood to flow through them leading to heat loss and decreased metabolism to decrease heat production. Also, there is immediate activation of sweat glands located in the skin and excessive production of sweat causes loss of

Indian religion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Indian religion - Essay Example Especially the Indian women always try to preserve their practice in a pure Indian traditional way. Indian women have very important role in maintain puja which Hindus name it as Dharma (University of California). In Indian religion Rajput women are famous when it is about regular religious practices especially â€Å"home puja†. Rajput women main objective is to become a good wife, a wife which is protector of her husband, as this is one major religious consideration which Indian women maintain specifically. In Indian religion especially in Hinduism women maintain entail fasting, which is to gain Shiv’s blessing. This is weekly activity which unmarried women perform to attain a holy partner under the blessing of Shiv. This is also maintained by married women to serve their husbands in pious manner. A special fasting is maintained on Monday, which is an important religious day in Hinduism consideration (University of California). University of California. "Religion and Protection." 2004. www.publishing.cdlib.org. 26 September 2012

The Treaty of Versailles to the rise of Nazism in Germany Research Paper

The Treaty of Versailles to the rise of Nazism in Germany - Research Paper Example The allies crafting the treaty at the Paris Peace Conference were more interested in punishing Germany than securing long lasting peace. Ironically, the Treaty of Versailles was intended to make sure Germany was rendered too weak to wage war but due to its restrictive nature served to enrage and embolden factions within the beaten nation which fanned the flames of an emerging fanaticism. Germany not only lost massive amounts of land, economic sanctions caused severe hardships to a people trying to recover from the devastation of war. The worldwide depression in the 1930’s worsened the already desperate situation. In addition, German’s greatly resented foreign troops occupying parts of their country. The German government was weakened as a consequence of the ill conceived Treaty of Versailles which allowed for a fanatical form of fascism led by Adolph Hitler to flourish in Germany following World War I. (Henig, 2010). These issues, which were instigated by the Treaty of Versailles, caused Germany to again become aggressive against its neighboring countries which started WWII. The Treaty of Versailles was designed specifically to weaken Germany in many vital areas. Large sections of German territory were taken away and given to surrounding countries. France and Poland especially received lands that had been important to the Germany economy. Germany also lost all of its worldwide outposts to various allied nations. The new country of Austria was carved from previously held German lands as was the former Czechoslovakia, now called the Czech Republic. The allies were given all of Germany’s mercantile marine ships, another severe blow to the German economy. On top of that, the Treaty required Germany to construct civilian and war ships for selected Allied countries. The Treaty also placed stringent restrictions on the Germany’s capacity to defend itself or to wage war. Germany was not permitted to possess heavy guns, tanks, armored cars, u -boats, Zepplins or airplanes, no air force of any type was allowed. The defeated nation could keep no more than one hundred thousand troops in its army and fifteen thousand sailors in its navy. Germany was forbidden by the Treaty to import materials used for war and was made to pay steep reparations to the Allied nations as well as to the territories it ceded. All types of valuables were seized to make these payments such as precious metals, building materials, vehicles and ships. On top of that cash payments were mandated on an annual basis for years to come. The Treaty also greatly diluted Germany’s transportation system. It gave control of Germany’s railroads to Poland and placed Germany’s river system, an important transportation artery at that time, under foreign management. Poland also gained free use of Germany’s northern ports. (Bell, 1986) Though the Treaty of Versailles accomplished its intended purpose by crippling Germany’s military an d economy ensuring it too weak to wage war, this tactic caused the next great world war just 20 years later. The Allied delegation in Paris assumed they had been successful in both ending the â€Å"war to end all wars† and preventing Germany from ever again waging war against its neighbors in Europe. They were tragically mistaken. The Treaty contained strong language but weak enforcement characteristics. Many military and political leaders understood this from its inception and predicted the horrific consequences. The Treaty was â€Å"the peace to end peace†