Skill

Listening

The receiving, retaining and processing of information or ideas.

What this skill covers

  • Listening to others
  • Demonstrating listening
  • Recognising influence
  • Listening critically

What is this skill about?

This skill is all about being able to effectively receive information, whether it comes from customers, colleagues or stakeholders.

Initially, the skill steps concentrate on being able to listen effectively to others, including remembering short instructions, understanding why others are communicating and recording important information.

It then focuses on how you demonstrate that you are listening effectively, thinking about body language, open questioning and summarising and rephrasing.

Beyond that, the focus is on being aware of how you might be influenced by a speaker, through tone and language.

The final steps are about critical listening – comparing perspectives, identifying biases, evaluating ideas and being objective.

Skill details

Skills Builder

There are 16 steps in this skill

You can jump straight to a step by selecting it below.

0

Listening to others without interrupting
1

Listening to others and remembering short instructions
2

Listening to others and asking questions if you don't understand
3

Listening to others and telling someone else what it was about
4

Listening to others and telling why they are communicating with you
5

Listening to others and recording important information as you do
6

Showing you are listening by how you use eye contact and body language
7

Showing you are listening by using open questions to deepen your understanding
8

Showing you are listening by summarising or rephrasing what you have heard
9

Being aware of how a speaker is influencing you through their tone
10

Being aware of how a speaker is influencing you through their language
11

Listening critically and comparing different perspectives
12

Listening critically and thinking about where differences in perspectives come from
13

Listening critically and identifying potential bias in different perspectives
14

Listening critically and using questioning to evaluate different perspectives
15

Listening critically and looking beyond the way speakers speak or act to objectively evaluate different perspectives

Module Structure

Each step in this skill requires you to work through 3 stages.

  • Identify

    Read, watch and listen to the content.

  • Practise

    Show that you've understood the content by completing activities.

  • Articulate

    Reflect and discuss what you've learned.

Learn your own way

  • You don't need to learn the skill steps in order.

  • You can move back and forward between steps at anytime - you can even revisit them at a later date!

  • Don't want to do an exercise just yet? No problem - come back to it again later.

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