ABSTRACT
Listening is the active process of constructing meaning from spoken messages through attention to the verbal and nonverbal codes that accompany the messages. Good listeners know how important it is to tune into the visual and vocal nonverbal messages that accompany the verbal code. Good listeners are valued and cherished as friends and life-mates. Customers in one survey ranked listening as the most important skill needed by salespeople. Research on how to improve memories of witnesses to crimes resulted in memory techniques and principles that allowed “witnesses to recall 63% more information than was obtained with the standard police interview format”. One way to improve listening skills is to become aware of some major listening barriers. High-context cultures such as Japan and Mexico believe that it is the listener’s responsibility to achieve understanding. Many viewers are not effective critical listeners, and the stories about elderly people on fixed incomes who have given everything they have to unscrupulous persuaders are legion.
