Most humans by nature have a fascination with their own voice - which often manifests itself in a desire to keep on speaking. However, there is a great deal of difference between speaking and communicating, with the latter requiring considerable application of effort. People with good communication skills know what to say at exactly the right time, at what place and to whom. More importantly, they know when not to talk at all, and just listen. There are certain key characteristics that depict whether a person is a good communicator or not - one of them is being a good listener. It might be possible that you are able to communicate your views and thoughts to another person in the best manner, but when it comes to listening to others, you happen to be a complete failure. In most people, the quality of listening is closely related to their grasp of information, and with the ever changing situation in business environments today, excellent listening skills have become an imperative for success.

Here are some tips that will help you to improve your listening skills:

1. Pay attention to what the other person is talking about. It's quite important to pay attention to the speaker, and it is not only the matter of maintaining good eye contact, but the posture of your entire body is important as well.

2. Let the other person speak. Patience is the essence of any good communication ability. It's especially important when listening that you always allow the other individual to express his/her opinions, while making a point to not interrupt during the conversation.

3. Do not impose your opinion. To avoid conflict, you should respect the opinions of others, and at the same time, try not to impose your opinions on others either, as it often happens that the opinions of any two people don't even remotely come close to common ground.

4. Ask meaningful questions. It is important that during a discussion only meaningful questions pertaining to the discussion are asked or raised. These questions should always direct the conversation towards a useful conclusion.

5. Help and support the other individual. Good listening requires creating a supportive environment for anyone speaking in order to help them sense that all is going well. Encourage the other person, and let them feel that you are interested in listening his/her opinions or views.

6. Restate your thoughts. Listening is quite different from hearing, and it's not the easiest of skills to master. Although listening by itself will definitely help you to gain some understanding, or at the very least help you to get to a point of view, it is still very important that at the close of every discussion you should be able to easily restate, in order, all of the previous ideas.

It is quite true that the more you listen, the more effective and efficient you become. Many of you might be well versed in speaking, but have you ever really given consideration to the value of listening? The tips listed above may not ensure that you'll be suddenly transformed into a great listener, but what they certainly will do is hone your listening skills to a great degree, thereby directly affecting your overall communication ability.

Copyright (c) 2009 Alan Gillies