Active listening. In hearing, one of our five physical senses, sound waves are received as stimuli.

Thus, hearing is a passive process on our part. Listening, on the other hand, requires our active interpretation of those stimuli. How much conscious attention we give to that process determines how good we are at listening. Although Western culture is beginning to give more attention to the skill of listening, we still are largely rewarded for our ability to talk. And as elected and appointed officials, we have traditionally been rewarded for how well we can make our point, give a rousing speech, or sell our ideas verbally. But listening is a skill that will become more rewarding for us as citizens increasingly look for leaders who are willing and able to be attentive to their opinions and listen to their ideas. Barriers to Listening Effectively Among the many blocks to processing the messages that are spoken to us are a few obvious barriers: * Preoccupation. When other things are on our minds, we have difficulty listening to what is being said. * Noise. Loud or persistent noise can often interfere with our ability to hear and therefore to listen well. * Physical discomforts. We can become distracted by physical discomfort, such as pain, being too hot or too cold, feeling ill, and other discomforts that can inhibit our ability to concentrate when someone is speaking to us. * Hearing problems. An inability to hear the message can clearly block our ability to listen effectively. * Too much information. An overload of information can make it difficult to concentrate and remember all that is being said. * Boredom. Our minds can process information at a rate of about 600 words per minute, while we speak an average of between 100 and 140 words per minute. As a result, our minds have plenty of time to wander, and we can become easily bored. When this happens, we are not putting forth the concentration that effective listening requires. Other barriers that prevent us from listening effectively are poor listening habits, such as the following: * Selective listening. We hear what we want to hear, picking and choosing those parts of the message that suit our purposes. * False listening. We pretend to listen, giving signals that would indicate we are listening (such as nodding our heads) while, in fact, our minds are focused on other things. * Interrupting. We often tend to cut off the end of the person's message before he or she has finished the thought. (One way to avoid this habit is to count to 10 after the speaker has stopped talking. This gives the person a chance to continue if, in fact, he or she has more to say. And it gives you practice in pausing before speaking.) * Impatient listening. We tend to prepare our response while "listening," which prevents us from fully attending to the speaker. Elements of Effective Listening To counteract the barriers to effective listening, there are four basic steps you can take: Know why you are listening. We all try to understand the message being conveyed to us. When you begin to listen, set a goal for yourself: Decide why you are listening. When you take the conscious step of setting a listening goal, you begin to take your role as listener seriously, formalizing a process that you may have previously taken for granted. Also, setting a goal enables you to empathize more easily with the listener because it helps you key in to the feelings of the person communicating with you. There are several reasons (or goals) for listening: * Enjoyment.

* Understanding. * Decision making. * Conflict resolution. * Problem solving. * Information gathering. Your listening goal is decided as much by the other person's reason for communicating as by your own reason for listening. For example, if someone is telling you a humorous story, you are both communicating largely for enjoyment. However, if someone is telling you about the argument he just had with his boss at work, he is most likely looking 'for someone to listen with understanding and empathy, so your listening goal in this case is to understand. Be careful to align your listening goal with the expectations of the speaker by being sensitive to the speaker's feelings and intent, For example, the person who has just had an upsetting encounter with his boss is probably expecting a sympathetic reaction from you, so unsolicited advice or a rational explanation of why his boss acted the way he did will probably not be well received. Give your full attention to the speaker. Sit or stand so you are fully facing the speaker, and make direct eye contact. Lean forward slightly toward the speaker, and nod occasionally to signal that you are bearing the message. Try not to fold your arms or put your hands in your pockets because these actions can be interpreted as closed-mindedness. Assume as open a position as possible. Your attentiveness accomplishes two things: it helps you concentrate more fully on what the speaker is saying, and it sends a nonverbal message to the speaker that what he or she has to say is very important to you. At the same time, watch for nonverbal cues from the speaker that may signal how he or she is really feeling. Often, what a person is saying may not be a true reflection of how that person really feels. For instance, a person may tell you that she is not under stress or bothered or nervous or upset but is all the while tapping her fingers on the table or pacing back and forth. These are obvious body-language clues that may actually be (consciously or unconsciously) nervous or upset. Thus, when in doubt about how a person really feels about a situation, watch his or her body language for the most accurate cues. Process the message. After hearing the message and being attentive to the needs of the speaker, you have to determine what is required in the way of a response. Choose an appropriate strategy for a response. One of the major reasons you listen as an elected or appointed official is to help citizens solve problems. There are any number of responses you can formulate in keeping with this goal: First, you can offer advice. This response is one we all like to provide because, if nothing else, it makes us feel good. Any time we have a chance to expound on an issue (and hear ourselves talk), we are likely to take the opportunity. Before you take this approach, however, ask yourself two questions: (1) Did the speaker ask for my advice? and (2) How certain am I that my advice is correct? Second, you can analyze the issue. Assessing the situation or issue is a response that requires enough reliable information to ensure that your analysis is on target. As with offering advice, however, it is important to make sure that the speaker is receptive to an analytic response. A rational approach may not be appropriate if the speaker is looking for emotional support or validation. Third, you can offer support. Your attempt at support needs to be perceived as genuine. "I know just how you fed" can snap back at you when the speaker interprets your response as condescending or paternalistic. This can lead to ill will on both sides and a breakdown in communication. Thus, if you feel support is an appropriate response, you need to show your concern in an open and honest way. This can be done simply by nodding your head, paraphrasing what the person has just told you, and identifying his or her feelings (for example, "You seem to be feeling (upset, happy, frustrated, angry) about this."

Fourth, you can actively listen. This is an effective listening strategy for your role in working with citizens to solve problems. Through this style of listening, you empower the speaker to own the issue and to clarify for himself how he wants to handle the situation. The Five Steps of Active Listening Listen without making judgments. This first step requires you to listen without letting your own perceptions serve as a barrier to open communication. You need to be conscious of your own judgments and perceptions and then to lay them aside so you can listen fully and without barriers. Identify feelings. This next step requires you to determine what the speaker is feeling. You should be alert to her body language and tone of voice, analyze the content of her message, and use empathy to gain a greater understanding of how she is actually feeling. Acknowledge feelings. Once you have identified the speaker's feelings, tell her that yon sense how she is feeling, and describe her feelings as you perceive them - for instance, "I realize how frustrated this must make you feel." By checking out and verifying how the person is really feeling, you can let her know that she's been heard and can thus deal with her more effectively. Paraphrase. When you paraphrase, you repeat in your own words what the speaker has just said in order to make sure you understand it. This also gives the speaker the opportunity to make herself clear. Ask open-ended questions. When you ask questions, you are being a detective, trying to determine exactly what the citizen wants so you can attempt to meet his or her needs. Closedended questions will give you only "yes" or "no" answers or specific answers of only a few words (e.g., responses to who, when, where, what). An example of a closed-ended question would be: "Is your neighborhood plan different from the overall plan for the city?" Open-ended questions or requests for information (e.g., how, why, explain, describe) will provide the most feedback. An example of an open-ended question is: "How does your neighborhood's plan fit into the overall plan for the city?" Adapted from the training workbook Building Citizen Involvement: Strategies for Local Government, copyright 1997, ICMA, Washington, D.C. For more information on ICMA training packages, write or fax the ICMA University at 777 North Capitol Street, N.E., Suite 500, Washington, D.C. 20002420; fax, 202/962-3500. -1Questia Media America, Inc. www.questia.com Publication Information: Article Title: Active Listening. Magazine Title: Public Management. Volume: 79. Issue: 12. Publication Date: December 1997. Page Number: 25+. COPYRIGHT 1997 International City-County Management Association; COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group