REMO INTERNATIONAL

COLLEGE FOR AVIATION

LECTURE NOTES
UNIT I
(PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT)
BBA AIRLINE AND AIRPORT
MANAGEMENT
II YEAR/ III SEM

Ms.BADRU NISHA N
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
1. What is listening
Listening is the ability to accurately receive and interpret messages in the
communication process. Listening is key to all effective communication. Without the
ability to listen effectively, messages are easily misunderstood. As a result,
communication breaks down and the sender of the message can easily become
frustrated or irritated.

Listening is so important that many top employers provide listening skills training for
their employees. This is not surprising when you consider that good listening skills
can lead to better customer satisfaction, greater productivity with fewer mistakes,
and increased sharing of information that in turn can lead to more creative and
innovative work.

Effective listening is a skill that underpins all positive human relationships.

Spend some time thinking about and developing your listening skills – they
are the building blocks of success.

Good listening skills also have benefits in our personal lives, including:

A greater number of friends and social networks, improved self-esteem and

confidence, higher grades at school and in academic work, and even better health
and general well-being. Studies have shown that, speaking raises blood pressure,
attentive listening can bring it down.
1.1 The Purpose of Listening
There is no doubt that effective listening is an extremely important life skill.
Why is listening so important?

Listening serves a number of possible purposes, and the purpose of listening

will depend on the situation and the nature of the communication.

● To specifically focus on the messages being communicated, avoiding

distractions and preconceptions.
 ● To gain a full and accurate understanding into the speaker's point of view and
ideas.

● To critically assess what is being said.

● To observe the non-verbal signals accompanying what is being said to

enhance understanding.

● To show interest, concern and concentration.

● To encourage the speaker to communicate fully, openly and honestly.

● To develop a selflessness approach, putting the speaker first.

● To arrive at a shared and agreed understanding and acceptance of both sides

views.

Often our main concern while listening is to formulate ways to respond. This is
not a function of listening. We should try to focus fully on what is being said
and how it's being said in order to more fully understand the speaker.

Effective listening requires concentration and the use of your other senses - not just
hearing the words spoken.

Listening is not the same as hearing and in order to listen effectively you need to use
more than just your ears.
1.2 Listening is Not the Same as Hearing
Hearing refers to the sounds that enter your ears. It is a physical process that,
provided you do not have any hearing problems, happens automatically. Listening,
however, requires more than that: it requires focus and concentrated effort, both
mental and sometimes physical as well.
Listening means paying attention not only to the story, but how it is told, the use of
language and voice, and how the other person uses his or her body. In other words,
it means being aware of both verbal and non-verbal messages. Your ability to listen
effectively depends on the degree to which you perceive and understand these
messages. Listening is not a passive process. In fact, the listener can, and should,
be at least as engaged in the process as the speaker. The phrase ‘active listening’ is
used to describe this process of being fully involved.
Someone rightly said, “Hearing is through ears, but listening is through the
mind.” The two activities hearing and listening involve the use of ears, but they are
different. The hearing is nothing but a sense that helps you receive sound waves and
noise by ears. It is the power of perceiving sounds. On the contrary, listening is when
you receive the sound waves and understand it by paying full attention to the words
and sentences of the speaker. It is one’s ability to correctly receive and interpret the
message transferred by the other party in the process of communication. For many
people, these two activities are one, but the truth is, the difference between hearing
and listening is vital.

HEARING LISTENING

Hearing is the act of perceiving sound and Listening is the act of hearing a
receiving sound waves or vibrations sound and understanding what
through your ear. you hear.

Listening Requires concentration

Hearing is one of the five senses and it just
so that your brain processes
happens all the time – whether you like it or
meaning from words and
not – unless you have a hearing problem
sentences.

Hearing simply happens. Listening leads to learning.

 Listening uses different senses,
Hearing is a skill where you use your ears
like the sense of hearing, seeing,
only. It is one of the five senses.
or sense of touch.

Listening is a skill that lets the

Hearing is an involuntary act where you
sound you hear go through your
simply receive vibrations through your ears.
brain to process the meaning of it.

Physiological Psychological

Subconscious level Conscious level

Concentration is not required Concentration is required

1.3 Definition of Hearing

The natural ability or an inborn trait that allows us to recognize sound through ears
by catching vibrations is called the hearing. In simple terms, it is one of the five
senses; that makes us aware of the sound. It is an involuntary process, whereby a
person receives sound vibrations continuously. A normal human being’s hearing
capability ranges from to 20000 Hertz, called as audio or sonic. Any frequency above
and below the given range is known as ultrasonic and infrasonic respectively.

1.4 Definition of Listening

Listening is defined as the learned skill, in which we can receive sounds through
ears, and transform them into meaningful messages. To put simply, it is the process
of diligently hearing and interpreting the meaning of words and sentences spoken by
the speaker, during the conversation. Listening is a bit difficult, because it requires
concentration and attention, and the human mind is easily distracted. People use it
as a technique to comprehend, what is being said, through different verbal and
non-verbal signs, i.e. how it is being said? What type of words is used? Tone and
pitch of voice, body language and so on. Active listening is the key element; that
makes the communication process effective. Further, it encompasses making
sounds that show listener’s attentiveness and providing feedback. It had a greater
influence in our lives and used to gain information, learn and understand things and
so on.

1.5 Stages of Listening

There are many factors that can interfere with listening, so you need to be
able to manage a number of mental tasks at the same time in order to be a
successful listener. The listening process is divided into five stages:
receiving, understanding, remembering, evaluating, and responding.

Receiving

Receiving is the intentional focus on hearing a speaker’s message, which happens

when we filter out other sources so that we can isolate the message and avoid the
confusing mixture of incoming stimuli. At this stage, we are still only hearing the
message. Notice in figure that this stage is represented by the ear because it is the
primary tool involved with this stage of the listening process.

One of the authors of this book recalls attending a political rally for a presidential
candidate at which about five thousand people were crowded into an outdoor
amphitheater. When the candidate finally started speaking, the cheering and yelling
was so loud that the candidate couldn’t be heard easily despite using a speaker
system. In this example, our coauthor had difficulty receiving the message because
of the external noise. This is only one example of the ways that hearing alone can
require sincere effort, but you must hear the message before you can continue the
process of listening.

Understanding

In the understanding stage, we attempt to learn the meaning of the message, which
is not always easy. For one thing, if a speaker does not enunciate clearly, it may be
difficult to tell what the message was—did your friend say, “I think she’ll be late for
class,” or “my teacher delayed the class”? Notice in figure that stages two, three, and
four are represented by the brain because it is the primary tool involved with these
stages of the listening process.

Even when we have understood the words in a message, because of the differences
in our backgrounds and experience, we sometimes make the mistake of attaching
our own meanings to the words of others. For example, say you have made plans
with your friends to meet at a certain movie theater, but you arrive and nobody else
shows up. Eventually you find out that your friends are at a different theater all the
way across town where the same movie is playing. Everyone else understood that
the meeting place was the “west side” location, but you wrongly understood it as the
“east side” location and therefore missed out on part of the fun.

The consequences of ineffective listening in a classroom can be much worse. When

your professor advises students to get an “early start” on your speech, he or she
probably hopes that you will begin your research right away and move on to
developing a thesis statement and outlining the speech as soon as possible.
However, students in your class might misunderstand the instructor’s meaning in
several ways. One student might interpret the advice to mean that as long as she
gets started, the rest of the assignment will have time to develop itself. Another
student might instead think that to start early is to start on the Friday before the
Monday due date instead of Sunday night.
So much of the way we understand others is influenced by our own perceptions and
experiences. Therefore, at the understanding stage of listening we should be on the
lookout for places where our perceptions might differ from those of the speaker.

Remembering

Remembering begins with listening; if you can’t remember something that was said,
you might not have been listening effectively. Wolvin and Coakley note that the most
common reason for not remembering a message after the fact is because it wasn’t
really learned in the first place (Wolvin & Coakley, 1996). However, even when you
are listening attentively, some messages are more difficult than others to understand
and remember. Highly complex messages that are filled with detail call for highly
developed listening skills. Moreover, if something distracts your attention even for a
moment, you could miss out on information that explains other new concepts you
hear when you begin to listen fully again.

It’s also important to know that you can improve your memory of a message by
processing it meaningfully—that is, by applying it in ways that are meaningful to you.
Instead of simply repeating a new acquaintance’s name over and over, for example,
you might remember it by associating it with something in your own life. “Emily,” you
might say, “reminds me of the Emily I knew in middle school,” or “Mr. Impiari’s name
reminds me of the Impala my father drives.”

Finally, if understanding has been inaccurate, recollection of the message will be

inaccurate too.

Evaluating

The fourth stage in the listening process is evaluating, or judging the value of the
message. We might be thinking, “This makes sense” or, conversely, “This is very
odd.” Because everyone embodies biases and perspectives learned from widely
diverse sets of life experiences, evaluations of the same message can vary widely
from one listener to another. Even the most open-minded listeners will have opinions
of a speaker, and those opinions will influence how the message is evaluated.
People are more likely to evaluate a message positively if the speaker speaks
clearly, presents ideas logically, and gives reasons to support the points made.

Unfortunately, personal opinions sometimes result in prejudiced evaluations. Imagine

you’re listening to a speech given by someone from another country and this person
has an accent that is hard to understand. You may have a hard time simply making
out the speaker’s message. Some people find a foreign accent to be interesting or
even exotic, while others find it annoying or even take it as a sign of ignorance. If a
listener has a strong bias against foreign accents, the listener may not even attempt
to attend to the message. If you mistrust a speaker because of an accent, you could
be rejecting important or personally enriching information. Good listeners have
learned to refrain from making these judgments and instead to focus on the
speaker’s meanings.

Responding

Responding—sometimes referred to as feedback—is the fifth and final stage of the

listening process. It’s the stage at which you indicate your involvement. Almost
anything you do at this stage can be interpreted as feedback. For example, you are
giving positive feedback to your instructor if at the end of class you stay behind to
finish a sentence in your notes or approach the instructor to ask for clarification. The
opposite kind of feedback is given by students who gather their belongings and rush
out the door as soon as class is over. Notice in figure that this stage is represented
by the lips because we often give feedback in the form of verbal feedback; however,
you can just as easily respond nonverbally.

Formative Feedback

No response occurs at the end of the message. Formative feedback is a natural part
of the ongoing transaction between a speaker and a listener. As the speaker delivers
the message, a listener signals his or her involvement with focused attention,
note-taking, nodding, and other behaviors that indicate understanding or failure to
understand the message. These signals are important to the speaker, who is
interested in whether the message is clear and accepted or whether the content of
the message is meeting the resistance of preconceived ideas. Speakers can use this
feedback to decide whether additional examples, support materials, or explanation is
needed.

Summative Feedback

Summative feedback is given at the end of the communication. When you attend a
political rally, a presentation given by a speaker you admire, or even a class, there
are verbal and nonverbal ways of indicating your appreciation for or your
disagreement with the messages or the speakers at the end of the message. Maybe
you’ll stand up and applaud a speaker you agreed with or just sit staring in silence
after listening to a speaker you didn’t like. In other cases, a speaker may be
attempting to persuade you to donate to a charity, so if the speaker passes a bucket
and you make a donation, you are providing feedback on the speaker’s
effectiveness. At the same time, we do not always listen most carefully to the
messages of speakers we admire. Sometimes we simply enjoy being in their
presence, and our summative feedback is not about the message but about our
attitudes about the speaker. If your feedback is limited to something like, “I just love
your voice,” you might be indicating that you did not listen carefully to the content of
the message.

There is little doubt that by now, you are beginning to understand the complexity of
listening and the great potential for errors. By becoming aware of what is involved
with active listening and where difficulties might lie, you can prepare yourself both as
a listener and as a speaker to minimize listening errors with your own public
speeches.
Key Points to Remember

● The receiving stage of listening is the basic stage where an individual hears
a message being sent by a speaker.
● The understanding stage of listening occurs when a receiver of a message
attempts to figure out the meaning of the message.
● The remembering stage of listening is when a listener either places
information into long-term memory or forgets the information presented.
● The evaluating stage of listening occurs when a listener judges the content
of the message or the character of the speaker.
● The responding stage of listening occurs when a listener provides verbal or
nonverbal feedback about the speaker or message.
● During the responding stage of listening, listeners can provide speakers with
two types of feedback designed to help a speaker know whether a listener is
understanding and what the listener thinks of a message. Formative
feedback is given while the speaker is engaged in the act of speech making.
Summative feedback is given at the conclusion of a speech.

1.5 Type of Listeners

Listening is an important part of living. That is how we learn and grow in life. But it is
a common site that most of the people are not good listeners .This causes
hindrances in their development.

There are four general types of listeners:

1. Active listeners

2. Passive listeners

3. The evaluating listeners

4. The marginal listeners

5. The non listeners

Active listeners

They listen to the speaker’s words with feeling, attachment and emotions. They
always try to understand the depth of the knowledge given by the speaker and try to
find out what can be gained. Active listeners take not only the content but also the
feelings which are attached to the speaker's words. Active listeners always put
themselves in place of the speaker and try to understand the problem from the
speaker point of view. Active listening is the highest level of listening and only a few
people have it.

Passive listeners

Passive listeners exhibit exactly the opposite behavioristic traits of active listeners.
They pay attention only to partial messages and lack sensitivity to the nuances, inner
meanings, nonverbal subtexts involved in communication. They allow someone to
speak, without interrupting or seeking clarifications. They do not make notes, nod
their head in approval, maintain eye contact and keep themselves idle. Passive
“listening,” is actually hearing not listening! Since passive listeners keep their mind
closed, communication with them is futile and incomplete.

Evaluating listeners

Evaluating listeners as the name suggests, they start evaluating the thoughts of the
speaker and hence lose understanding of the true meaning of the message given by
the speaker. This obviously leads to a deterioration of trust and credibility between
the listener and the speaker. He understands the content but is not able to
understand the feeling which is attached to the message.

Marginal listeners

As the name suggests marginal listeners only listen to the surface of the message
and do not access the depth knowledge of the message content. They always
postpone the problem's solution and do not deal with them in the present. They are
easily distracted by external factors like food, gossip between different people. They
only want to learn the bottom line of the message given. They never pay attention to
what is said and what is the reason behind.
Non-listeners

At first, they never listen to the speaker deliberately and do not make an effort to
listen at all. They interrupt in between and want their ideas to be spoken. They
always make fake attention towards the speaker and they always think of ideas
which they want to speak. This is the lowest level in the listening category.

WHAT MAKES AN ACTIVE LISTENER?

An active listener is serious about the whole process of communication. S/he pays
attention to the speaker’s stance, perspective, point of view, bias and prejudices.
S/he is intensely involved in the interaction and expends maximum energy to have
full comprehension of the subject matter. through their eye contact, receptive body
language, and appropriate facial expressions and nonverbal affirmations, they make
the speakers feel that delivering a message to them is a pleasing and pleasurable
experience.

1.6 TYPES OF LISTENING

When we engage in listening we are doing so for many different reasons depending
upon the goals in which we are trying to achieve. There are four different types of
listening that are essential to know when deciding what your goal as the listener is.
The four types of listening are appreciative, empathic, comprehensive, and critical.
Familiarize yourself with these different types of listening so you can strengthen and
improve your ability to critically think and evaluate what you have heard.

Appreciative Listening

When you listen for appreciation you are listening for enjoyment. Think about the
music you listen to. You usually listen to music because you enjoy it. The same can
be said for appreciative listening when someone is speaking. Some common types
of appreciative listening can be found in sermons from places of worship, from a
motivational speech by people we respect or hold in high regard, or even from a
standup comedian who makes us laugh.
Empathic Listening

When you listen empathically you are doing so to show mutual concern. During this
type of listening you are trying to identify with the speaker by understanding the
situation in which he/she is discussing. You are stepping into the other’s shoes to get
a better understanding of what it is he/she is talking about. Usually during this type of
listening you want to be fully present in the moment or mindfully listening to what the
speaker is saying. Your goal during this time is to focus on the speaker, not on
yourself. You are trying to understand from the speaker’s perspective.

Among its benefits, empathic listening

◆ builds trust and respect,

◆ enables the disputants to release their emotions,

◆ reduces tensions,

◆ encourages the surfacing of information, and

◆ creates a safe environment that is conducive to collaborative problem

solving.

Comprehensive Listening

If you are watching the news, listening to a lecture, or getting directions from
someone, you are listening to understand or listening to comprehend the message
that is being sent. This process is active. In class, you should be focused, possibly
taking notes of the speaker’s main ideas. Identifying the structure of the speech and
evaluating the support he/she offers as evidence. This is one of the more difficult
types of listening because it requires you to not only concentrate but to actively
participate in the process. The more you practice listening to comprehend, the
stronger listener you become.

Critical Listening

Have you ever had to buy an expensive item, such as a new appliance, a car, a cell
phone, or an iPad? You probably did some research beforehand and listened closely
to the salesperson when you went to compare brands. Or perhaps your best friend is
telling you about some medical tests he/she recently had done. You listen closely so
you can help your friend understand her results and the possible ramifications of the
findings. Both of these scenarios are examples of critical listening. Critical listening is
listening to evaluate the content of the message. As a critical listener you are
listening to all parts of the message, analyzing it, and evaluating what you heard.
When engaging in critical listening, you are also critically thinking. You are making
mental judgments based on what you see, hear, and read. Your goal as a critical
listener is to evaluate the message that is being sent and decide for yourself if the
information is valid.

1.7 Listening Barriers

Unfortunately, effective listening can be held back by barriers. These barriers to
listening can be grouped into two major categories: external and internal.

External Listening Barriers

External listening barriers are easier to manage than internal barriers. They include a
variety of environmental distractions that can usually be avoided or minimized with
simple corrections, like removing yourself from the interfering barrier or removing the
issue from the area that you are in. External barriers include:

● Noise. Any external noise can be a barrier, like the sound of equipment
running, phones ringing, or other people having conversations.
● Visual distractions. Visual distractions can be as simple as the scene
outside a window or the goings-on just beyond the glass walls of a nearby
office.
● Physical setting. An uncomfortable temperature, poor or nonexistent seating,
bad odors, or distance between the listener and speaker can be an issue.
● Objects. Items like pocket change, pens, and jewellery are often fidgeted
while listening.
● Speaker. The person listening may become distracted by the other person’s
personal appearance, mannerisms, voice, or gestures.

Internal Listening Barriers

Internal listening barriers are more difficult to manage, as they reside inside the mind
of the listener. Internal barriers’ elimination relies on a high level of self-awareness
and discipline on the part of the listener, like catching oneself before the mind starts
to wander and bringing full attention back to the speaker. Internal barriers include:

● Anxiety. Anxiety can take place from competing personal worries and
concerns.
● Self-centeredness. This causes the listener to focus on his or her own
thoughts rather than the speaker’s words.
● Mental laziness. Laziness creates an unwillingness to listen to complex or
detailed information.
● Boredom. Boredom stems from a lack of interest in the speaker’s subject
matter.
● Sense of superiority. This leads the listener to believe they have nothing to
learn from the speaker.
● Cognitive dissonance. The listener hears only what he or she expects or
molds the speaker’s message to conform with their own beliefs.
● Impatience. A listener can become impatient with a speaker who talks slowly
or draws out the message.
Working through these barriers are crucial for better listening. If a listener can
remove these barriers, they will find that they can gain a better understanding of the
tasks at hand, communicate more effectively, and achieve greater success in the
workplace.

Information Overload

Seventy percent of our waking time is spent in some sort of communication situation.
Of that seventy percent, forty-five percent of that time is spent listening. With all we
have to listen to, there are going to be times where we experience information
overload . Information overload is when you have so much information coming at
you; it's easy to become overwhelmed. In a public speaking class you can
experience this when listening to your fellow classmates give speeches-- especially if
you're hearing 20 speeches one after the other. You become overwhelmed and you'll
probably find yourself tuning out at some point. Or what if a speaker condenses so
many statistics into the presentation that you cannot keep track of all the numbers?
That's information overload.

Bias

Bias includes prejudice or assumptions about others based only on their

appearance, gender, race, religion, and other factors. When we are biased toward
someone else, we expect them to act in a certain way based on our assumptions,
resulting in poor listening. For instance, in a multicultural workplace, you often have
a group of people who come from different backgrounds and have different physical
characteristics or life experiences.

When you are in this situation, it may be easy for you to make assumptions about
the people you are working with despite never actually getting to know them. This
can prevent you from listening to them effectively because you are not giving them a
chance to show you who they are.

Interruptions

Interruptions can come from either side of the conversation, and they can be
physical or verbal. A physical interruption might be someone grabbing your arm to
get your attention while you are talking, or people trying to talk over each other.

Verbal interruptions come in the form of questions and statements. Overlaps happen
when both people try to speak simultaneously, and neither will give up their turn to
hear what the other has to say. As a result, the message gets lost, and the
conversation becomes ineffective.

Inadequate language base

Sufficient language background is required to fully understand the speaker. Despite

one’s best efforts to intensely participate in the communication process (a lecture
delivered, for instance), an inadequate language base will act as a deterrent. Weak
language proficiency, lack of technical vocabulary, combined with fear and shyness,
will hinder the progress of learning a new subject.
Disinterestedness

Lack of interest in the subject prevents one from paying complete attention.
Students, for instance, may remember a pop song more easily than the name of an
author. So, due to disinterestedness in the subject, during a conversation, the
listener may focus on other interesting subjects.

Negativity towards speaker

The major cause of poor listening is due to the listener’s emotional, mental and
psychological mind-set. If there is any dislike for the speaker and disapproval of
his/her ideas, the listener will certainly reconstruct distorted and negative message.
When there is negativity, the listener shows animosity, undermines the speaker’s
capabilities, and keeps disagreeing with the speaker’s viewpoints. The listener will
even go to the extent of ridiculing, insulting, and humiliating the speaker in public.

Defiance

Some listeners suffer from a defeatist attitude. Hence, underestimate their

self-capabilities and decide in advance that they cannot understand what they are
going to hear. Mostly, new students and participants in a conference suffer from this
kind of self-diffidence and affect the listening process.

Over-enthusiasim and intolerant

There are listeners who often become over enthusiastic and intolerant and start
supplying gaps in the speaker’s ideas. This generally comes out of impatience from
the listener’s side who finds the speaker slow to communicate his/her ideas. So the
listener advances the questions and interferes quickly, preventing the speaker from
finishing his/her talk at their own pace. In the process, the listener assumes the
speaker’s flow of thought in advance and impedes his/her own mind from active
listening.
Deep-rooted beliefs

Sometimes one tends to become close minded due to one’s own deep rooted beliefs
and convictions. Socio-culturally embedded beliefs and convictions become so
strong and firmly rooted in one’s minds and act as barriers to new thoughts and fresh
ideas. For instance, if one has a deep rooted conviction on caste system based
arranged marriage, then the person will not be able to openly listen to a talk on the
benefits of inter-caste love marriage. Such deep-rooted beliefs lead to superficial
listening and cause disagreement with the speaker’s stance and view point. Now it’s
time for you to introspect. Make an honest estimate of your barriers to active
listening and take constant efforts to overcome them. In the next and the final lecture
of this module, I will throw light on active listening techniques and the benefits of
effective listening.

1.8 How to overcome the barriers of listening

Follow these steps to reduce listening barriers at work:

1. Minimize distractions.
2. Prioritize listening over speaking.
3. Reduce outside noise.
4. Practice reflecting instead of deflecting.
5. Ask questions.
6. Listen fully before giving advice.

1. Minimize distractions

To avoid getting distracted, make sure you are physically facing the speaker and
attempt to make frequent eye contact with them while they are speaking. Make sure
you are seated or standing comfortably but appropriately so you can remain
engaged. Put away your cell phone or any other pieces of technology that could
become a distraction. The speaker may also appreciate the gesture you’ve made to
show them that they have your undivided attention.
2. Prioritize listening over speaking

If you think you might be an excessive talker, try to practice self-control in

conversation. Give the other person room to speak. During any conversation with a
coworker, wait until they’re finished speaking before you respond to show respect for
what they’re saying. Finally, observe your listeners’ reactions as you talk. If you
notice signs of distraction in someone you are speaking with, consider asking
questions to encourage them to talk more and direct their focus back on the
conversation.

3. Reduce outside noise

Before having a conversation, minimize sound in your environment that could be

distracting or make it more challenging to hear. A noisy environment can create
distractions for both listeners and speakers, resulting in possible disruptions to
conversations. To minimize noise, turn off mobile devices or place them on silent.
Plan to hold important conversations in a place that you know will be quiet, like your
office or a private meeting area. If someone is talking loudly outside your office or
making other distracting noises, it is often better to politely ask them to move
elsewhere or keep the noise down.

4. Practice reflecting instead of deflecting

To bond with your conversation partner or show them you’re engaged, you may feel
eager to share your personal experiences when listening. However, a better
approach typically involves merely listening and providing responses that focus on
the other person’s situation. This shows that you’re genuinely invested in their side of
the conversation.

To listen effectively, keep deflecting to a minimum and try reflecting instead.

Reflecting involves paraphrasing back to the speaker what they have said. To do so,
you could use language like, “What I am hearing from you is...” or “It sounds
frustrating that that happened to you.” Reflecting could also involve asking a
follow-up question based on what you have heard, such as “What did you do after he
said that?” or “How did that make you feel?”
Reflecting assures your listener that you are paying close attention, but it can also
help to correct any possible misunderstandings. Reflecting allows the other person to
correct what you may have misheard.

5. Ask questions

In addition to reflecting, asking questions is an effective listening technique. Focus

on asking questions based on what the speaker has already told you and are
designed to elicit more information. The best questions are nonjudgmental and flow
directly from something the speaker has recently said.

6. Listen fully before giving advice

It can sometimes be tempting to offer advice after someone shares a problem or

concern with you, especially if you want to help them solve that problem. However,
wait to advise unless the speaker specifically asks for it. Sometimes people share
their concerns in the workplace simply to build bonds with colleagues or to make a
coworker aware of a problem. Sharing issues can be a way to start introducing
conversations deeper than small talk.

If you want to share advice, think first about whether your colleague is truly soliciting
advice or just looking for a way to vent. Instead of advising, consider offering
empathy with responses such as, “That sounds frustrating,” or try reflecting instead.

Look for opportunities to practice listening

Because conversation is integral to everyday life in addition to the workplace, you

should have plenty of opportunities to hone this soft skill. While you are conversing
with someone, plan to use an effective listening response, such as asking questions.

Reflect on your conversations

After a conversation, take some time to think about whether you were listening
effectively and what kinds of barriers may have occurred. Then, you can think about
how you might handle such obstacles in the future.
Focus your conversations on the other person

To help prevent listening barriers before they arise, approach conversations with the
mindset that you genuinely want to learn more about the other person while they
talk. This can naturally help you get rid of distractions and focus only on the
conversation you’re having.

2. What are observation skills?

Observation skills refer to the ability to use all five of your senses to recognize,
analyze and recall your surroundings. This practice is often associated with
mindfulness because it encourages you to be present and aware of the details of
your daily life.

2.2 Examples of observation skills

Observation skills are dependent on several other abilities and attributes, such as:

● Communication
● Emotional intelligence
● Critical thinking
● Attention to detail

Communication

Perhaps one of the most important aspects of effective communication is the ability
to actively listen. When you possess this skill, you can dedicate your focus to the
person speaking, comprehend their message and respond in an appropriate and
thoughtful manner. You do this by paying attention to the speaker's verbal and
nonverbal cues, such as tone of voice, body language and facial expressions. As a
result, you can engage in the conversation and recall its details without needing to
ask the speaker to repeat information.

Aside from improving your relationships and interpersonal skills, active listening
ensures that your verbal and written communication is more accurate.
Emotional intelligence

The ability to evaluate and regulate your own emotions as well as recognize and
empathize with the emotions of others is a skill that is known as emotional
intelligence. Though this skill's primary benefit is that it helps you connect with those
around you and build meaningful relationships, it's also a powerful tool of
observation. By identifying the emotional state of others, you can better recognize
how you should interact with and respond to those around you.

Critical thinking

Your ability to think critically has a significant influence on your observation skills.
Critical thinking, or the ability to analyze context and facts so that you can thoroughly
understand a topic or problem, requires you to remain objective as you identify
issues and develop effective solutions.

Attention to detail

Attention to detail is the ability to approach and accomplish tasks with thoroughness
and accuracy. This skill plays a strong role in productivity, but it's also key to effective
observation because it allows you to recognize small details and adjust your actions
to accommodate them.

2.3 How to improve observation skills

You can follow these steps to improve your observation skills:

1. Look for details.

2. Avoid distractions.
3. Keep an observation journal.
4. Quantify things as you notice them.

1. Look for details

Take some time each day to pause what you're doing and try to pick out as many
details as you can from your surroundings. There are usually big or
attention-grabbing things in your environment, but try to move past these objects to
find some of the smaller, less noticeable attributes. For example, you might
immediately notice the computer, chair and desk in a colleague's office, but try to
pick out details about the paint, items on the desk, pictures on the walls and even the
carpeting.

2. Avoid distractions

Electronic devices, busy surroundings or even your own thoughts can easily distract
you from observing the places and people around you. Instead of listening to music
on your walk or commute to work, try paying attention to the sounds and sights to
see what you notice.

3. Keep an observation journal

It can be helpful to carry around a portable journal with you so that you can write or
draw the things you notice. You can also keep a document on your computer for
small observations throughout the day. Focus on things like the:

● Objects around you, including their placement, shape, size and color.
● People present, including what they're doing and what they're wearing.
● Things you see, hear, touch, taste and smell.

4. Quantify things as you notice them

As you observe, try to be as specific as possible. A great way to do this is to avoid

generalizations like, "There were some people in the break room." Instead, count
exactly how many people there were.
3. What is positive outlook

It’s a way of thinking, well, positively rather than negatively. It doesn’t have to be
through ‘rose-coloured’ glasses or not being realistic about the trials of life, but it’s
about looking for the good and opportunities in a situation, rather than the bad.

It’s having the confident belief that things will always work out for the best and
expecting the best in life in general.

3.1 Benefits of having positive outlook in life

● Reduces stress due to less worrying,

● Helps with your emotional and physical health,
● You develop better coping skills,
● You are happier,
● You become more confident,
● You surround yourself with positivity and positive people (because it’s
contagious and likeable!

3.2 What is positive attitude

Having a positive attitude means being optimistic about situations, interactions, and
yourself. People with positive attitudes remain hopeful and see the best even in
difficult situations. In contrast, those with negative attitudes may be more pessimistic
and disagreeable, and typically expect the worst outcome in tough situations.

While having a positive attitude doesn’t necessarily make you less stressed, it can
equip you with the tools you need to cope with stress in a healthier way. Let’s take a
look at the ways a positive attitude can manifest in your work and personal life.
3.3 Why is having a positive attitude important?

If you have a positive mental attitude, you can deal with stress and negative
situations in a much healthier way.

For example, you may not fear stress as something physically deprecating and
dangerous, but as a means to a greater end. Other benefits include creating
actionable goals based on dreams, making and maintaining more positive
relationships, and giving your immune system a well-needed boost.

3.4 A positive outlook manifests in the following ways

You’ll be more optimistic.

Having a positive outlook naturally results in a more optimistic view of life. Rather
than thinking “the grass is greener on the other side,” you’ll feel that you’re already
on greener grass. You’ll see the positive side to most situations, helping you deal
with negative events.

You’ll deal with disappointments and failures more easily.

They’ll still be hard, but you’ll cope and bounce back. Not only that, but you can
accept that things turned out the way they did, rather than being in denial. Those
with a negative attitude will dwell and ruminate over negative events.

You’ll be more empathetic and understanding toward others.

With a positive attitude, you learn to see the thoughts behind people’s actions and
why they may have acted the way they did. Rather than jumping to a harmful
conclusion, you can understand where people may be coming from.

You’ll be more grateful.

A positive outlook will teach you to be grateful for the good things in your work and
life. You’ll approach every day with an appreciative mindset.
Clearly, having a positive attitude is immensely beneficial, yet it’s easier said than
done. By adopting some of the following tips, you can maintain a positive attitude
through highs and lows and improve your work ethic.

3.5 Ways to maintain positive attitude

1. Start a gratitude journal.

2. Treat yourself to some self-care every day.
3. Start every morning strong.
4. Avoid spreading gossip.
5. Crack more jokes.
6. Take real breaks.
7. Have something to look forward to after work.
8. Practice meditation.
9. Focus on the long-term instead of the short-term.
10. Listen to music that matches your mood.

1. Start a gratitude journal.

There’s so much to be grateful for in life, so why not remind yourself of that on a
daily basis?

A gratitude journal is a wonderful way to stay positive every day. Once a day, you jot
down at least three aspects of your day for which you feel thankful. They can be as
small as seeing a cute dog on your way to work or as large as getting an offer for
your dream job. Additionally, they can be something that happened to you on that
specific day — such as getting yourself a large latte — or something that exists in
your life always — like having a family who loves you.

Whatever you want to write is up to you. All that matters is that you’re remembering
to feel grateful every day. By retraining your mind to think about all the good things in
your life, you can develop a more positive outlook.

2. Treat yourself to some self-care every day.

It’s always important to take care of both your physical and mental health. It can feel
overwhelming when you’re working a full-time job that requires you to constantly
interact with people — whether they be customers, prospects, co-workers, or
managers — in high-pressure situations.

To keep moving forward with a positive attitude, it’s essential that you take a step
back and treat yourself to something special. Self-care doesn’t always have to
involve a nighttime soak in the bath with candles and a glass of wine — although that
sounds lovely, too.

Consider the ways you can unwind, de-stress, and have some “you” time. Some
examples are doing a face mask, watching a movie, baking, reading, calling a friend,
getting takeout, or even just saying “no” to plans and, instead, staying in. No matter
what it is, you should get into the habit of practicing something every day. By
allowing yourself these moments of rest, you can ensure a more positive attitude
when you’re on the work grind.

3. Start every morning strong.

It’s easier to maintain a positive attitude all day if you implement it right after opening
your eyes in the morning. That dreaded moment when the alarm goes off can often
lead to irritation, which sets you on the path to have a negative attitude all day.

Instead, think about some ways to make your morning the best part of your day —
especially if you’re not a morning person. Consider waking up a half hour or an hour
earlier than usual. This means getting into bed earlier, too! Give yourself time to do
the things you love but may not always have time for; go for a run, relish in a hot
shower, have a cup of coffee, and actually make breakfast (and, no, granola bars
and frozen waffles don’t count). Put on your favorite music or show, or even whip out
a book and start your morning doing something you love while enjoying a
home-cooked meal.

When your morning is more productive and less rushed, you’ll be sure to head to
work in higher spirits. That morning glow will spread throughout your day, and then,
the cycle can repeat.
4. Avoid spreading gossip.

To many, gossip is their bread and butter. However, the mere act of saying things —
whether or not they are true — behind someone’s back that you wouldn’t say to their
face is negative. In the workplace, gossip leads to an unstable, unsafe, and
disagreeable environment. After all, if you’re spreading rumors about your
coworkers, chances are they’re doing the same about you … yikes.

It can be hard to avoid gossip, but simply refuse to get involved. If someone tries to
reveal a dramatic story about a coworker, decline and tell them you’d rather not
participate. While that may feel odd, you’ll actually find that you feel lighter when not
carrying the weight of secrets. And, when you’re not talking about other people, you
can feel more confident that others are keeping their lips zipped about you. And
that’s a reason to feel optimistic.

5. Crack more jokes.

Humor truly is the best medicine. Laughter has great short-term results on your
mindset and body. Laughter can increase endorphins, relieve stress, and release
tension.

In the long-term, laughter — and the positive thoughts associated with laughter —
can release neuropeptides, which fight stress and other serious illnesses. It can also
help you cope with difficult situations and make you feel happier. By cracking more
jokes, you can make humor out of potentially negative situations at work, and — at
the same time — prepare your body and mind for a more positive outlook.

6. Take real breaks.

On a busy, eight-hour day, it can sometimes be difficult to find time for a serious
break. That means leaving the workspace, having a meal, and putting away all
work-related information. You are legally allowed to have a break, and you should
never feel like that rest period is jeopardized.
Working for eight hours straight can make you feel sluggish and irritated. A break —
even for 30 minutes — can re-energize you and make you more motivated to
continue your work for that day. Give yourself time to refuel your positivity, and you’ll
be sure to end the day on a better note.

7. Have something to look forward to after work.

You may be tired after a long day of work, but having something planned after 5 p.m.
can make the day look a little brighter. Whether it be with your coworkers, family, or
friends, a night of fun can make the day go by a lot faster.

Your plans don’t always have to involve going out for drinks or dinner. Even planning
a Netflix marathon can put a silver lining on your workday. The point is to craft your
days to be more than just “work.” By penciling in some fun time several days a week,
you can find a healthy way to balance your personal and professional life.

8. Practice meditation.

Practicing meditation can do a lot to decrease stress and anxiety, as well as improve
mental and spiritual health. Proper meditation can decrease workplace anxiety for
those in high-pressure work environments, such as in customer support or service.

Even five minutes a day is a great start to a meditation routine. Practice deep
breathing and clearing your mind. Simple methods like this are effortless and will
help you find balance in your life, as well as let go of the negativity and stress that
you may experience on a daily basis.

9. Focus on the long-term instead of the short-term.

When a conflict arises — either with a coworker or with a customer — your

immediate reaction might be to jump to the defense. You want to protect yourself and
garner respect, which is a good thing. However, the more conflicts in which you
partake, the more negativity will surround your life.
Instead, take a second to step back and view the situation from a third-party
perspective. Will participating in this conflict be beneficial in the long run? Or, will it
simply cause unnecessary stress and negativity at the moment?

Often, a customer is simply having a bad day, or a coworker is facing stress. Rather
than snapping back, you can practice empathy. This might help you get to the root of
the problem and end the conversation on a positive, lighter note.

10. Listen to music that matches your mood.

It seems ironic, but sad music may actually help boost your mood. According to a
research study, many people tune into sad songs as a form of mood enhancement.
Many consider sad music to be “beautiful,” which helps people feel better. In
addition, sad songs can invoke memories, distract from negative situations, and
carry strong messages.

A different study states that sad music might evoke positive moods because sadness
somehow feels satisfying and cheerful when experienced through art. So, listening to
sad music might just lift your mood during or after a long, tough workday.

When you practice the above tips, you’ll find your attitude much improved. And you’ll
find that it comes out through your actions, too.
3.6 What a positive attitude can look like in your work and daily life.

1. Looking at the Bright Side After Getting Laid Off

2. Practicing Self-Care after a Failure at Work
3. Meditating When Feeling Overwhelmed at Work
4. Finding Worthwhile Pastimes While Stuck in Traffic

1. Looking at the Bright Side After Getting Laid Off

If you’ve ever been laid off, then you know how unpleasant it is. You feel like your
worth has been brought into question because you weren’t important enough to stay
on the company’s payroll. Even if it wasn’t by anyone’s choice but rather a result of
financial instability, it can be disheartening, especially if you have family to take care
of.

Armed with a positive outlook, you would:

● Let yourself feel the pain and grief of losing your job. Having a positive outlook
doesn’t mean not feeling badly; it means getting up after life gets you down.
● Create a plan and take care of the basics, such as securing unemployment
benefits.
● Start a new hobby or side business, or do things that having a job prevented
you from doing.
● Practice self-care to remind yourself of your value.
● Read a book, start a new show or podcast, or seek another stimulating
pastime. Maybe you can be the stay-at-home parent and take care of the kids.
● Start applying for jobs with the hope of securing better pay, better benefits, or
a better work environment.

2. Practicing Self-Care after a Failure at Work

After messing up at work, it’s easy to feel downtrodden and dwell on the failure.
Maybe you didn’t prepare a presentation well enough, your disorganization got in the
way of your productivity, or your manager once again had to meet with you about
your performance.

To face this situation with a positive attitude, you would:

● Accept that you could’ve done better, but that the only way to go now is up.
● Treat yourself with as much compassion and understanding as if a colleague
had made this mistake, and you were looking at it as a bystander.
● Practice self-care to avoid overthinking and remind yourself of your value.
● Let it go and know that you can always do better.
● Create an internal improvement plan so that this mishap doesn’t happen
again.

3. Meditating When Feeling Overwhelmed at Work

Does this sound familiar? You have twenty clients to follow-up with, a presentation
due just this week, and a meeting with higher-ups about your team’s performance. In
this situation, nearly anyone would feel overwhelmed. Even if the details are
different, we’ve all felt in over our heads at one time or another.

A person with a positive attitude would deal with this situation by meditating or
finding another coping mechanism. You would also:

● Take inventory of everything you have to do and prioritize them by

importance.
● Reach out to your manager to let them know you’ll need more time, if
possible.
● Practice self-care and understand that your productivity at work doesn’t define
your worth.
● Postpone what can be postponed and do what must be done now.
● Get up earlier than usual to have a few more hours in the day to catch up on
work.
● Unwind in the evening by reading, exercising, or watching a comfort show.
4. Finding Worthwhile Pastimes While Stuck in Traffic

Road rage is, well, all the rage — especially if you live in a congested area. Will you
get angry and try to merge from lane to lane so you can find the one that’s going
more quickly?

With a positive outlook, you would:

● Accept that there’s nothing you can do about traffic, and that getting angry
hurts you more than anything else.
● Take a few deep breaths while at the wheel and slow down the speed of the
vehicle.
● Find a podcast on your favorite music player, or listen to music you’ve never
listened to before.
● Think about your tasks for the upcoming day and make additional plans if
necessary.
● Call up a friend or family to help pass the time.

As you can see, having a positive attitude helps immensely even when facing
something as major as a layoff or as minor as traffic.

4. What is communication?
The root of the word “communication” in Latin is communicare, which means to
share, or to make common. Communication is defined as the process of
understanding and sharing meaning. The center of our study of communication is the
relationship that involves interaction between participants. This definition serves us
well with its emphasis on the process, which we’ll examine in depth across this text,
of coming to understand and share another’s point of view effectively.

4.1 Why Is Communication Important?

Whether you are preparing a business report, answering a phone call or just nodding
your head in approval, you are communicating in some form. Some jobs, such as
those related to sales or service, may require strong interpersonal skills as a basic
eligibility criterion. Hence, good communication skills help you discharge your duties
more effectively. They also help you build better relationships at your workplace and
increase your chances of success in your career.

4.2 Barriers of Communication

The process of communication has multiple barriers. The intended communique will
often be disturbed and distorted leading to a condition of misunderstanding and
failure of communication. The Barriers of effective communication could be of many
types like linguistic, psychological, emotional, physical, and cultural etc. We will see
all of these types in detail below.

Linguistic Barriers

The language barrier is one of the main barriers that limit effective communication.
Language is the most commonly employed tool of communication. The fact that each
major region has its own language is one of the Barriers to effective communication.
Sometimes even a thick dialect may render the communication ineffective.

As per some estimates, the dialects of every two regions changes within a few
kilometers. Even in the same workplace, different employees will have different
linguistic skills. As a result, the communication channels that span across the
organization would be affected by this.

Thus keeping this barrier in mind, different considerations have to be made for
different employees. Some of them are very proficient in a certain language and
others will be ok with these languages.

Psychological Barriers

There are various mental and psychological issues that may be barriers to effective
communication. Some people have stage fear, speech disorders, phobia, depression
etc. All of these conditions are very difficult to manage sometimes and will most
certainly limit the ease of communication.

Emotional Barriers

The emotional IQ of a person determines the ease and comfort with which they can
communicate. A person who is emotionally mature will be able to communicate
effectively. On the other hand, people who let their emotions take over will face
certain difficulties.

A perfect mixture of emotions and facts is necessary for effective communication.

Emotions like anger, frustration, humour, can blur the decision-making capacities of a
person and thus limit the effectiveness of their communication.

Physical Barriers to Communication

They are the most obvious barriers to effective communication. These barriers are
mostly easily removable in principle at least. They include barriers like noise, closed
doors, faulty equipment used for communication, closed cabins, etc. Sometimes, in a
large office, the physical separation between various employees combined with
faulty equipment may result in severe barriers to effective communication.

Cultural Barriers of Communication

As the world is getting more and more globalized, any large office may have people
from several parts of the world. Different cultures have a different meaning for
several basic values of society. Dressing, Religions or lack of them, food, drinks,
pets, and the general behaviour will change drastically from one culture to another.

Hence it is a must that we must take these different cultures into account while
communicating. This is what we call being culturally appropriate. In many
multinational companies, special courses are offered at the orientation stages that let
people know about other cultures and how to be courteous and tolerant of others.
Organisational Structure Barriers

As we saw there are many methods of communication at an organizational level.

Each of these methods has its own problems and constraints that may become
barriers to effective communication. Most of these barriers arise because of
misinformation or lack of appropriate transparency available to the employees.

Attitude Barriers

Certain people like to be left alone. They are the introverts or just people who are not
very social. Others like to be social or sometimes extra clingy! Both these cases
could become a barrier to communication. Some people have attitude issues, like
huge ego and inconsiderate behaviours.

These employees can cause severe strains in the communication channels that they
are present in. Certain personality traits like shyness, anger, social anxiety may be
removable through courses and proper training. However, problems like egocentric
behaviour and selfishness may not be correctable.

Perception Barriers

Different people perceive the same things differently. This is a fact which we must
consider during the communication process. Knowledge of the perception levels of
the audience is crucial to effective communication. All the messages or communique
must be easy and clear. There shouldn’t be any room for a diversified interpretational
set.

Physiological Barriers

Certain disorders or diseases or other limitations could also prevent effective

communication between the various channels of an organization. The shrillness of
voice, dyslexia, etc are some examples of physiological barriers to effective
communication. However, these are not crucial because they can easily be
compensated and removed.
Technological Barriers & Socio-religious Barriers

Other barriers include the technological barriers. The technology is developing fast
and as a result, it becomes difficult to keep up with the newest developments. Hence
sometimes the technological advance may become a barrier. In addition to this, the
cost of technology is sometimes very high. Most of the organizations will not be able
to afford decent tech for the purpose of communication. Hence, this becomes a very
crucial barrier. Other barriers are socio-religious barriers. In a patriarchal society, a
woman or a transgender may face many difficulties and barriers while
communicating.

Environmental barriers

There are several environmental barriers in communication including external noise,

time, physical distance, space, climate and place. External noise is one of the most
recognized environmental barriers to communication because it makes it difficult or
impossible for people to hear one another. This noise can also change physical cues
because a person might need to shout to be heard and will need to alter the way that
they deliver communication. Another environmental barrier is the climate. If the
temperature is too high or too cold, then people can become agitated, frustrated and
uncomfortable. The place where the communication takes place can also be another
environmental barrier. Places where there is not enough space for conversation or
places where there are too many people nearby can lead to altered communication.
Other problems, such as poor lighting and uncomfortable furniture, can make people
impatient and initiate conflict.

Gender Barriers to Communication

Gender barriers to communication can incite problems at home and in the

workplace. Societal stereotypes, assumed gender roles, and interpersonal
differences can contribute to a communication gap between the sexes. Men and
women have assigned roles in society that exacerbate to the gender divide; it is
important to remember, however, that not all men and women fit into a labeled
category. Recognizing the common differences and similarities is a first step toward
creating understanding.

4.3 Methods to Remove Barriers

*Have Clarity In Your Thoughts*:

You should be very clear about your objective and what you want to convey. Arrange
your thoughts in proper order and then communicate accordingly. Systematic
communication and clarity in thought get adequately received and appreciated.
Aimless talks can be misleading so you should always try to show that there is an
aim or motive behind your talk.

Understand the needs of your audience:

You should be emotional and sensitive towards the needs of your receiver.
Understand his behavior, nature, culture, and religion, however, it does not mean you
cannot express your feelings or thoughts, but it simply means that you are showing
respect to his religious beliefs or thoughts and then stating your point of view. Most
importantly the message should also be structured as per his level or ability. If you
are conveying the message to a layman then avoid using technical words and if you
are addressing the corporate elite, the language should have professional
sophistication and maturity.

Seek the advice of others before Communicating:

If you are going for a highly prolific meeting, seek the advice from your seniors and
colleagues on the level and kind of talk that should be given. The main advantage of
this practice is simple, you can get many ideas which can build your motivation and
knowledge and you can then use the same to meet your purpose.

Take adequate care of your Tone, Language, and way you are speaking:
Messages should be framed in a simple and polite tone that attracts the listeners.
Care should be taken to keep the sentences short and simple. Technical words
should be used only where they are required the most. The most important of all the
interest of the receiver should be kept in mind and the things that are conveyed
should attract the users else you might find your audience or listening yawning while
you are speaking.

Have a Feedback from the receiver:

Avoid asking the listener, “Have you understood,” ask them instead their views about
what you have said and the aspects they had grasped from your message. This is
the most polite and best way to have your listener involved in a conversation. This
would help you to have a better understanding of their aptitude and the interest he or
she is showing towards the subject.

*Retain Consistency about the Message:* The message conveyed should conjure
with the organizational goals and policies. Whenever you are replacing any old
message instead of the new one, you should clearly mention it and clear all the
doubts.

Keep a Routine check on the communication system:

You should analyze the weaknesses in the communication system. All the efforts
should be made to know whether you should focus on the formal or informal way to
communicate. The situation needs to be analyzed to decide on the appropriate way
of communication and whether the audience loves to talk informally or in a formal
way.

Make use of the body language:

During the process of communication make sure you make the most appropriate use
of your body language, Avoid showing too much of emotions as the receiver might
misapprehend the message. Try to always keep a smiling face while talking and
make eye to eye contact with the listener but make sure not to keep your eyes gazed
at the person for more than five seconds and avoid too much fluttering of eyes which
indicate you are not confident. Sit in an upright position and feel relaxed.

Avoid overloading too much of information:

People would get bored if they are bombarded with unnecessary and too much
information. So try to deliver the parts which are useful and informative and of value
to the listener in a most simple and straightforward way. There should not be any
confusion left in the mind of the listener.

Reduce the level of noise as far as possible:

Always make sure to speak and interact with someone where there is no noise and
least disturbance.

Find the source of noise, remove it and then start conversing. Communication
chain should be short:

You should avoid using the mediocre or send the message through the third person
unless it is very urgent. Try to directly communicate with the person concerned. The
risk of distortion of the facts gets more if a message is passed through the third party
and just imagine if there are more people in between the sender and receiver the
chances of filtering the messages is doubled.

Keep your Anger in Control:

Do not be aggressive or show your anger if you do not agree with any point of view
or anything that is going against your ideology. State your thoughts politely with facts
if you have and reflect positivity in your talk and nature. Simply communication is a
social endeavor to give and receive what people want us to do and what we expect
from others. We can communicate with our friends and colleagues in many ways, but
its effectiveness can only be ensured if a message is conveyed appropriately and a
person is able to understand and comprehend the same.
Above are just a few ways to remove the communicative hurdles but the basic crux
of the same is a modification of your personality and adoption of a certain way that
meets the demand of our people.

5. What are communication skills?

Communication skills are the abilities you use when giving and receiving different
kinds of information. Some examples include communicating new ideas, feelings or
even an update on your project. Communication skills involve listening, speaking,
observing and empathising. It is also helpful to understand the differences in how to
communicate through face-to-face interactions, phone conversations and digital
communications like email and social media.

5.1 The Importance of Communication Skills

Having strong communication skills aids in all aspects of life – from professional life
to personal life and everything that falls in between. From a business standpoint, all
transactions result from communication. Good communication skills are essential to
allow others and yourself to understand information more accurately and quickly.

In contrast, poor communication skills lead to frequent misunderstandings and

frustration. In a 2016 LinkedIn survey conducted in the United States,
communication topped the list of the most sought-after soft skills among employers.
5.3 How to Improve Your Communication Skills
Here are some pointers to look out for when looking to improve your ability to
effectively communicate with others:

1. Listening
To become a good communicator, it is important to be a good listener. It is important
to practice active listening – pay close attention to what others are saying and clarify
ambiguities by rephrasing their questions for greater understanding.

2. Conciseness
Convey your message in as few words as possible. Do not use filler words and get
straight to the point. Rambling will cause the listener to tune out or be unsure of what
you are talking about. Avoid speaking excessively and do not use words that may
confuse the audience.

3. Body language
It is important to practice good body language, use eye contact, utilize hand
gestures, and watch the tone of the voice when communicating with others. A
relaxed body stance with a friendly tone will aid in making you look approachable to
others.

Eye contact is important in communication – look the person in the eye to indicate
that you are focused on the conversation. But make sure to not stare at the person
as it can make him or her uncomfortable.

4. Confidence
Be confident in what you say and in your communication interactions with others.
Being confident can be as easy as maintaining eye contact, maintaining a relaxed
body stance, and talking with concision. Try not to make statements sound like
questions and avoid trying to sound aggressive or demeaning.

5. Open-mindedness
In situations where you disagree with what someone else has to say, whether it be
with an employer, a co-worker, or a friend, it is important to sympathize with their
point of view rather than simply try to get your message across. Respect the opinion
of others and never resort to demeaning those who do not agree with you.

6. Respect
Respecting what others have to say and acknowledging them is an important aspect
of communication. Being respectful can be as simple as paying attention to what
they have to say, using the person’s name, and not being distracted. By respecting
others, the other person will feel appreciated, which will lead to a more honest and
productive conversation.

7. Using the correct medium

There are several different forms of communication to use – it is important to choose
the right one. For example, communicating in person about serious matters (layoffs,
salary changes, etc.) is more appropriate than sending an email regarding the
matter.