Introduction
The effective listening process is often challenged by many barriers that prevent persons from sharing ideas effectively. My listening habits are also imperfect, and I often suffer from such listening barriers as the focus on my mobile phone and concentration on what I want to say to the person instead of listening to his or her words. To improve my listening habits, I should focus on specific strategies to overcome the identified barriers.
The Aspects of Listening
My attention to the mobile phone creates a lot of problems for me during the communication process because I often want to check my messages while waiting for some portion of information instead of becoming focused on the communicator’s words. The other barrier is the concentration on what I want to say. It creates a significant problem for me because I become more interested in speaking than listening (Sole, 2011, p. 23). As a result, I often cannot catch the changes in the topic of conversations.
However, many listening strategies can be used to improve my listening habits and my ability to hear other people’s words. To overcome my problem with the mobile phone, I should focus on making eye contact with the speaker. This strategy is helpful to avoid looking at my phone too often. The next strategy is the reduction of distraction. I can not only avoid looking at the phone but also hide it in my bag.
To focus on the person’s speech instead of my thoughts, I should avoid jumping to conclusions because I can interpret the speaker’s words incorrectly. Moreover, I should ask for clarification to be involved in active listening (Steinberg, 2007, p. 81). As a result, I can hear, understand, and analyze more important information to respond to it adequately, without focusing on my ideas.
References
Sole, K. (2011). Making connections. USA: Bridgepoint Education.
Steinberg, S. (2007). An introduction to communication studies. USA: Juta and Company Ltd.