Importance Of Listening Essay

Introduction Though Francis Bacon did not make a mention of the importance of the art of listening, it is still the primary soft skill without which the other communication skills, namely, speaking, reading and writing, may not be effective and successful. Undoubtedly, listening occupies most of our time. However, listening is not the end of communication. Mere listening to the words of wisdom is of no use unless the listener is guided and benefited by them. Failure to communicate the message properly or effectively or failure to receive the message well may result in a communication gap. Obviously lack of attention or interest for one reason or another is not listening which is a positive quality, but hearing which is a casual thing without

Listening breaks down the barriers between individuals by paving the way for mutual understanding and cooperation. Good listening prevents communication gap and facilitates a fair grasp of the objectives and priorities of individuals and institutions. Attentive listening prevents the need for repetitions and thus save precious time. Normally, people listen to improve their knowledge, to obtain information, to follow directions, to be able to solve problems, to share experiences and feelings of joy and sorrow, to express opinions, to give judgments, and finally to learn new

One must possess a fund of vocabulary a fair knowledge of structures of sentences, accent and pronunciation, so as to identify what one is listening to. These things will certainly increase a listener’s understanding and knowledge. After all, words are everything. They are the building blocks. One can increase them by conscious effort. Owing to lack of concentration, sometimes people cannot listen well. Concentration is a result of motivation, self -discipline and willingness to learn. If these qualities are present in a person, nothing can divert his attention. This will increase his potentiality for learning through