Listening Skills Essay

A person is required to concentrate on the sound by deriving meaning from it and reacting to it. In school students are encouraged to be good listeners because it is through listening that a person can understand a given concept or idea. Listening goes beyond just receiving the sound,. it actually involves interpreting the sound to understand its meaning. The main difference between animals and human beings is that animals tend to hear rather than listen. This is clearly an indication that I am listening to the song being played. My ability to get the message and sing a long implies that I am getting the meaning of the song. People also listen to acquire information, it is only through listening that a person is able to get an essential information.

When at school a person is required to concentrate on what they are being taught so that one day they can use it in exams. Another reason why people listen to information is the ability to analyze and interpret what a person is saying. At times when I do not support an idea or a person saying the idea, I tend to switch off; this is also a barrier to effective listening. Although we are all caught up with poor listening skills, it is important to improve our listening skills. Some of the best ways of improving our listening skills involve concentrating on one thing at a time. When a person only focuses on one particular thing, he or she is able to understand without much problems.