Ter Scott offers article about Listening Perception

Today I'm sharing a brief article by one of my student/clients Kari Anderson. Here she speaks about "Listening Perception"


Listening is the most important skill that the human has. To hear is simply not enough. To listen, one puts thought behind everything they hear. By listening, you will learn a lot and know exactly what type of response you should make.

To listen means three things:

• Hear

• Understand

• Judge/process

In order to be a good listener, all three of the above are needed to be sure you are a great listener. If a person is telling you about a situation that is very important to them, such as if they have lost a loved one, you would want to be sure you are listening to what they are saying as you would not want to respond by simply saying “I see”. The person you are speaking with will consider you not very kind and not meeting their expectations of needed a shoulder to lean on in a difficult time.

For a person to become a good listener there is a list of things that one should learn to do.

• Focus on the speaker and stay focused. If you become distracted, you will not hear all that is being said.

• Make sure the speaker/person is done speaking before you give an opinion or answer.

• Listen for the main points of what is being said

• Ask questions, if there is something you are not understanding you will not be able to respond correctly

• Give feedback in the correct way. Make sure you have eye contact with the speaker, nod here and there to show you are “following along” it is a show of attentiveness and facial expressions are needed to show the speaker that you are following along/paying attention.

When you are listening to someone speak, try to not become emotionally involved. It can hamper your responses if you view the speaker’s topic on an emotional level.

Nearly 80% of the top-level North American executives believe that listening skills are extremely important. To listen is to communicate and communication is a huge part of the business world. When a business is making financial decisions, they need to know that all has been heard and the thought process can begin on what their next move will be.

In my own opinion, I believe that listening skills is something that needs to begin at birth and continue. To be a good listener will get you further in life in all areas.


“God gave us 1 mouth and 2 ears as he knew it would be harder to listen than to speak!”

Kari Anderson