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4 Listening Styles: Guide to Better Communication | BrightStar

Listening forms an integral part of communication. Despite the skill to listen, all of us have different listening styles that impact on our listening. Explore and become aware of your Listening Style and see how you can use that to benefit and serve others in communication.

Every person has a preferred way in which they want to receive information or a message. This refers to the general way you give attention to the message from another person. A listening style refers to so much more than only words, and include aspects like body language, tone of voice, pitch, etc

We will look at 4 listening styles:  What it means, what value it adds to a discussion and what the person with this listening style should keep in mind.

Relational Listening Style:

  • Focus: Emotions, connections and building relationships.
  • Value: Contribute to the softer side of discussions.  Is passionate and can motivate people.
  • Keep in mind: Expecting that everyone reacts as emotionally as you do. Think that others with lesser emotions does not care about other people. Avoid questions directed at you.

Analytical Listening Style:

  • Focus: Try to handle problems from a neutral point. Focus to get a bigger picture by taking respective viewpoints into consideration.
  • Value: Especially useful when an opinion is formed, a stance has to be taken or an opinion needs to be expressed.
  • Keep in mind: Don’t fire all your analytical questions at once (like gunfire). Do not only listen, but also ask questions, to show others what the different points of view on the matter are.

Task-orientated Listening Style:

  • Focus: Wants to get to the core of the problem or situation in the shortest possible time.
  • Value: Where there is unclarity in a discussion, this style can identify tasks that could guide the discussion and make things clearer.
  • Keep in mind: Do not show your frustration when you feel that others are wasting your time with longer discussions.  Acknowledge that discussions and not only identifying tasks, form an integral part of the process. Be aware that all people cannot express themselves as quickly as this listening style.

Critical Listening Style:

  • Focus: Judge the contents and the speaker for discrepancies and inconsistencies.
  • Value:  Can easily see logic gaps in arguments.  Can be very useful in proposals and strategic discussions to fill the gaps.
  • Keep in mind: Do not let highlighting discrepancies sound like accusations.  Also focus on commonalities and not only discrepancies. Be aware of your own irritations during the discussions.

Shanie Boshoff

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4 Listening Styles: Guide to Better Communication | BrightStar

Listening forms an integral part of communication. Despite the skill to listen, all of us have different listening styles that impact on our listening. Explore ...
Read More →