How to improve your listening

Being able to have a simple conversation coherently, and following the thread of a complex and profound thought, both have to do with the ability to listen. Many persons avoid conferences, for example, because they know they have low ability and disposition to listen; many students cannot summarize what was discussed at a class because for a large part of it they evaded mentally the act of listening; many conversations end up in misunderstandings or incomprehension, because the message is incorrectly said or heard; many frictions may have their origin in bad listening: how many times do I have to repeat the same thing?

So, what is listening correctly? Sara Melgar (1999), in her book “Learn to listen”, points out that a good listener is characterized by the mastering of five aptitudes:

1. The ability to regroup the different parts of a discourse, and thus being able to deduct the main idea or main ideas
2. The ability to quickly discern what is close or diverts from the subject
3. The ability to make logic deductions from what was understood
4. The ability to fully use the keys of verbal context (allusions, key words, transitions…)
5. The ability to follow, without getting lost, a complex reasoning

Students, gradually and adapted to different age ranges, from pre-school to post-graduate studies, can learn how to listen better and, therefore, make more use of it.