Effective Listening

Instructor’s Guide
July 2008
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• Have you ever had a conversation with a Member and
wondered if he/she understood correctly?

• During the middle of a call, have you wondered if the

Customer even knew what they were calling for?

• Have you ever found yourself solving an issue that wasn’t

what the Customer initially called about?
Objectives

After this course, you will be able to:

• Define Listening

• Enumerate the barriers to Effective Listening

• Determine how to overcome the barriers to Effective Listening

• Recognize the different modes of Listening

• Enumerate the benefits of Active Listening

• Enumerate the key elements in Effective Listening

• Apply the tips for Effective Listening when speaking with a

member

Time: 1 hour
 What is Listening?

• Listening is the receiving part of communication.

• It is a process.

• It is a voluntary action in that, we choose the information that we want to listen to.

Effective Listening involves listening actively to what the

Member says, responding appropriately, and asking the right
questions to arrive at a solution.
Activity

Break into groups of five, and come up with 5

reasons why people don’t listen. Make sure to
explain them to the class afterwards.
 Barriers to Listening

Distractions

- External factors that hinder you from focusing on the

message.
Example: Noise, Physical factors

Distortions
- Internal factors that make it difficult to concentrate on
the message being communicated.
Example: Pre-conceived notions, assumptions
 How to Overcome these Barriers

• Listen attentively without interrupting

• Make a conscious choice about your response

• Acknowledge the other person’s feelings

• Ask objective questions for clarification

• Try to see the other person’s point of view

• Stick to the subject

• Be patient

• Educate the other person about your suggestion

• Come up with a fair and workable solution

 Three Basic Listening Modes

Competitive or Combative Listening happens when we

are interested in promoting our point of view instead of
understanding or exploring someone else’s point of view.

What goes on:

- We listen for: Opportunities to take the floor, Flaws or Weak
points that we can attack

- As we pretend to pay attention, we are actually formulating

rebuttals that will make us come out as victors.
 Three Basic Listening Modes

Passive or Attentive Listening is practiced when we are

genuinely interested to hear and understand the other
person’s viewpoint.

What goes on:

- We listen to the other speaker, assume that we’ve heard and

understood everything that was said, and do not verify if what we
understood was correct.
 Three Basic Listening Modes

Active or Reflective Listening is the single most useful

and important listening skill. Here, we are interested in what
the other person is trying to communicate, and actively
checking on whether what we heard is accurate before we
respond to the message.
What goes on:

- We listen to the message that the speaker is trying to convey

- We paraphrase or restate our understanding of the message,
therefore providing the appropriate feedback.
 Benefits of Active Listening

Active Listening allows us to:

• Give the Member the reassurance they need by acknowledging

their feelings or statements;

• Gain the Member’s trust because they know that we understand

the situation;

• Identify areas of agreement such that the areas of opportunity

are put in perspective and diminished rather than magnified;

• Accurately understand the Member’s point of view; and

• Come to a decision as to what action steps to take to resolve

the issue
 Key Elements to Listening

When Listening, let us follow this 4-step process:

• Hear the message

• Interpret the message

• Evaluate the message

• Respond to the message

 Hear the Message

• Hearing is the start of the listening process

• In hearing, we choose the important information and

recognize emotional messages

• Listening occurs when we decide that the information

being given is important to us
 Interpret the Message

• Customers are not the best communicators of their

needs. Oftentimes, they fail to “say what they mean”,
thus we need to come to a mutual understanding of
the customer’s meaning.

• Asking questions is a good way to help us

understand the situation.
 Evaluate the Message

• Keep an open mind, gather all the important information

and let the customer finish speaking before making any
decision

• Avoid making assumptions or jumping into conclusions

based on incomplete information or biases.
 Respond to the Message

• Good listeners accept the responsibility of providing

feedback to the customer

• Not responding to the customer is like giving the

customer a blank stare

• It is important that we acknowledge what the customer

says
Let’s Practice

Let’s play a call. Listen attentively, as some

questions will be asked about it later.
Let’s Practice

Listen carefully to the details in the following

videos. You will be asked a few questions
afterwards.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=pwWSDEKhQOY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pk8rs-URyg&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cYu0pAhSDQ&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QQIltdqjlg
 Let’s review our objectives

We have
• Defined Listening

• Enumerated the barriers to Effective Listening

• Determined how to overcome the barriers to Effective Listening

• Recognized the different modes of Listening

• Enumerated the benefits of Active Listening

• Enumerated the key elements in Effective Listening

• Applied the tips for Effective Listening when speaking with a member
 Knowledge check

Directions: Click the icon below to take a brief online quiz regarding
the topics covered in this lesson. Read each question and select the
best answer.
Knowledge Check Questions

1. An example of a distraction is:

a. You are thinking about a movie that you want to watch with your friends
after training.
b. You are wondering how you’re going to spend your weekend.
c. Your seatmate is talking really loudly with the caller on the line
d. You are thinking if you’ve properly locked the house when you left for
work.
2. Which of these statements is not true?
a. Listening is the receiving part of communication.
b. Listening is an involuntary action.
c. Listening takes up a huge part of our day.
d. Listening is a process.
Knowledge Check

3. When someone is talking and you are waiting for an opportunity

to refute the statement, this kind of listening is called:
a. Combative Listening
b. Passive Listening
c. Active Listening
d. None of the above
4. When you are genuinely interested to hear what the other person
is saying, but do not verify if you’ve understood it correctly. This
type of listening is called:
a. Combative Listening
b. Passive Listening
c. Active Listening
d. Effective Listening.
Knowledge Check

5. The following are benefits of Active Listening, except:

a. Gives the Member reassurance that they need by acknowledging
their feelings or statements.
b. Gain the Member’s trust because they know that we understand
the situation;
c. Accurately understand the Member’s point of view.
d. Assuming what the Member is saying to resolve the issue
immediately.
6. The following are the key elements in Effective Listening, except:
a. Hearing the Message
b. Interpreting the Message
c. Evaluating the Message
d. Validating the Message
Knowledge Check

7. An example of a distortion is:

a. Your teammates singing happy birthday to your Team Leader
while you are on a call with a Member.
b. You are using a defective headset.
c. You came back late from your lunch break.
d. You are thinking about the points discussed to you by your Team
Leader during your coaching session.
8. The following are steps you can take to overcome the barriers
to effective listening, except:
a. Listen attentively without interrupting.
b. Make a conscious choice about your response.
c. Assume that you’ve understood what the customer needs.
d. Educate the other person about your suggestion.
Knowledge Check

9. A good way to let the Member know that you are listening
attentively is by:
a. Finding a solution to his or her concern immediately.
b. Acknowledging his or her feelings and asking objective questions.
c. Transferring the Member to another department.
d. Nodding as you listen to confirm that you’ve heard them correctly.
10. When you listen attentively to what the Member is saying, and
ask questions to verify if you are on the same page, this type of
listening is called:
a. Combative Listening
b. Passive Listening
c. Active Listening
d. Effective Listening