Entrepreneurship Development and Communication Skills

Listening skills

To develop listening skills, evaluate communication with another person after the discussion ends based on the guidels of effective listening. Then ask yourself, what do I need to improve on?

To help you develop this skill we now give below the main points discussed earlier in the form of DO’s:

Gather information about the setting, the topic and the speaker.

Visualise the contents of the topic.

Have a positive attitude.

Discipline your mind and concentrate on the contents.

Observe non-verbal signals, both physical and vocal.

Give evidence of your attentiveness.

Rephrase the contents from time to time.

Take easily decipherable notes.

The improvement of listening skill would enhance your intellectual ability to gather accurate information and help you establish harmonious, interactive relationship with your relatives, friends and co-workers.

Examine the following statements critically and give arguments in support of your viewpoint.

(a) Listening is to speaking as reading is to writing.

(b) All listening is hearing but all hearing is not listening

(c) We listen not only with our ears but also with our eyes.

Describe the ways of improving listening as a skill.

List the benefits that would accrue to you if you improve your listening skill.

Listen to the following pairs of sentences which will be read out to you and then point out the semantic difference between the two.

(a) (i) Wait here for a while; I’m coming

(ii) Do you mind waiting here?; I’ll be back in a minute.

(b) (i) Has Simi already submitted the assignment?

(ii)Simi has already submitted the assignment?

(c) (i) All old men and women may please leave the hall.

(ii) All old men and women may please leave the hall.

(d) (i) Mr. Patkey’s conduct is worthy of emulation.

(ii) Conduct Mr. Patkey round the factory.

(e) (i) I CAN SEE a great deal from here.

(ii) I can see a great deal from HERE.

Go through the following extracts from different conservations. In each extract one question(Q is asked but two responses (R) are given. Point out the difference between the two responses.

(a) Q. A husband asks his wife ‘Did Simi come home late, last night?’

R1. Yes, she did, so what?

R2. Yes, the party continued till 11 pm but her friends, Meena and sheena, were good enough to drop her home.

(b) Q. In a restaurant, the waiter asks a lady: ‘May I take your order, Madam?’

R1. Can’t you wait for a while?

R2. I’ll call you a minute later.

(c) Q. A student asks his friend: ‘I haven’t seen you for a long time. Where have you been?’

R1. On the campus only. Where have you been?

R2. On the campaus only. Just a chance we didn’t meet.

(d) The receptionist of an office asks a visitor: ‘Good morning, Sir. Can I help you?’

R1. Yes, I have an appointment with Ms Khokhale at 11 am.

R2. Yes, I have come to see Ms Khokhale. I was asked to report at 11 am.

(e) Q. An Office Manager speaks to a mechanic on phone: ‘can you come quickly, please Everyone is in a dreadful panic.’

R1. What’s wrong, sir?

R2. I’d be there in a moment, Sir.

Listen carefully to the following extracts from different poems. They would be read aloud twice at normal speed. You have to reproduce them with proper punctuation for which you have to use your imagination. However, to help you there will be a pause after each line.

(a) Between the idea

And the reality

Between the motion

And the act

Falls the shadow

Given below are a few passages and questions based on them. First, the questions will be read to help you focus your attention to the key points while listening to the passage. After the passage has been read, the questions will be read out again, this time one by one. A gap of one minute will be provided after each question to enable you to answer it.