Hearing & Listening

It goes without saying that communication is not without its challenges. Trying to connect with others on a sustained basis is never easy simply because there are so many external forces working against such an effort. And then there is the matter of how the person on the receiving end of an overture responds or if they are even paying attention when someone reaches out to them. This brings me to a key element in any communication effort: listening. Such a basic act - paying attention to another - is actually as complex as communication itself.


To begin, researchers have identified four categories of listening. These are: inactive listening (being present but not absorbing what is being said); selective listening (hearing what you want to hear); active listening (hearing and concentrating on what is being said); and reflective listening (involves the elements of active listening along with interpreting what is said and observing how it is said). All of us, it is safe to say, practice each of these forms depending upon the specific circumstance. The challenge for communicators is to meld an outreach effort with the kind of listening that ensures a message will be heard, understood, analyzed, and, ideally, acted upon. Without question, connecting those dots is a tall order.


For communicators, is it important they be able to properly distinguish between hearing and listening. Hearing refers to the physical act of perceiving a sound. Listening refers to the cognitive or intellectual act of understanding what one hears. Just because one hears a message does not mean they were actually listening. This is why communicators, such as public relations practitioners, need to do more than simply speak at a targeted audience. Their strategies must include building in a mechanism that encourages receivers of a message to provide feedback. The same holds for when two individuals communicate. Listening on the part of both, not merely hearing, is the key to a successful interaction.