When interacting, it is very common for people to wait to speak rather than listen attentively to what someone is saying. As a result of this, people tend to get distracted and lose focus of what the message sender is communicating. Active listening is essentially a structured way of listening and responding to others, where understanding is achieved through many different techniques. Active listening is an integral part of communication throughout various different aspects of everyday life. Whether you are talking to a friend, spouse, teacher, employee or even a manager active listening is an essential skill to learn for effective communication. Active listening is a skill that everyone can benefit from when it has been improved. By becoming a better listener, you will improve your productivity, as well as your ability to influence, persuade and negotiate. To begin, I will introduce this concept of active listening. There are many different opinions as to what active listening actually is, but essentially, there are for main components that active listening is comprised (restatement, summarizing, responding to non-verbal cues, and responding to feelings). Next, I will discuss a study done examining the subject of listening in the sales setting as communication between the sales person and the customer is an essential aspect of successful business interactions. Lastly, I will discuss another study done at the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore about how the insurance industry relies heavily on good listening skills for effective marketing.
Regarding active listening, it appears that there are many different approaches to this concept. To begin, active listening is essentially the process of a listener taking an active role in communications through four major techniques. These techniques include restatement, summarizing, responding to non-verbal cues, and responding to feelings (Green, and Knippen, 1994). Restating is