Listening brings about changes in peoples' attitudes toward themselves and others it also brings about changes in their basic values and personal philosophy. Despite the popular notion that listening is a passive approach, clinical and research evidence clearly shows that sensitive listening is a most effective agent for individual personality change and group development. Rogers and Farson write: 'Active listening is an important way to bring about changes in people. Practicing active listening also emphasized Rogers' (1980) concept of three facilitative conditions for effective counseling empathy, genuineness, and unconditional positive regard. Ĭarl Rogers and Richard Farson coined the term 'active listening' in 1957 in a paper of the same title (reprinted in 1987 in the volume Communicating in Business Today). I can keep my wandering mind a great deal more closely upon a conversation or a lecture if I actively re-echo to myself the words than if I simply hear them and I find a number of my students who report benefit from voluntarily adopting a similar course. articulating to one’s self the words seen or heard, ought to deepen one’s attention to the latter. reading not merely with the eye, and of listening not merely with the ear, but. William James identified a variety of attention called 'the reproduction of the sensation from within.' He suggested that people could learn more by engaging this ability directly: Active listening was introduced by Carl Rogers and Richard Farson, in 1957. By actively listening to another person a sense of belonging and mutual understanding between the two individuals is created. It may also be referred to as Reflective Listening. The overall goal of active listening is to eliminate any misunderstandings and establish clear communication of thoughts and ideas between the speaker and listener. Speakers receive confirmation their point is coming across and listeners absorb more content and understanding by being consciously engaged. This form of listening conveys a mutual understanding between speaker and listener. Active listening is the practice of preparing to listen, observing what verbal and non-verbal messages are being sent, and then providing appropriate feedback for the sake of showing attentiveness to the message being presented.

Listening definition in communication