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0NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION

Reflection of thought, feelings and position

It is important to point out that all bodily movements, postures, gestures etc. are guided by our thought
processes, emotions etc. By nodding our head, blinking our eyes, waving our hands, shrugging our
shoulders and various other ways we send out signals and messages that often speak louder than words.
That is why this area of enquiry has been called 'body language'. Just as language uses sets of symbols to
convey meaning, our body, consciously as well as unconsciously or instinctively, carries messages,
attitudes, status relationships, moods, warmth/ indifference, positive/negative feelings and so on. We
have, however, to infer these meanings from body symbols. We look for these symbols in the face and
eyes, gestures, posture, and physical appearance each of which has its own functions.

 Demonstrate and describe the meaning of various hand gestures.

 “Imagine a purple buffalo” Up and to the left – this would be the direction the eyes moved in
while thinking about the question as they ‘visually constructed’ a purple buffalo in their mind.

 (Emotional gestures and contradictions) Timing is off between emotions gestures/expressions and
words. Example- someone says “I love it” when receiving a gift and then smile after making that
statement, rather than at the same time the statement is made.

 Gestures/expressions don’t match the verbal statements, such as frowning when saying “I love
you”

 Expressions are limited to mouth movements when someone is faking emotions like happy,
surprised, sad, awe, instead of the whole face. Ex; when someone smiles naturally their whole face
is involved. Jaw/cheek movements, eyes and forehead push down etc

Mental Status Examination by the Psychologist

Mood - Sadness, Dullness, Anger

Affect - Energy level high, low, flat
Volume - Voice rate, high, low, when stressed – too high, depression – low
Pitch - Variation, too fast in talking, diary of words, paused between the sentences,
measured words- emotionally heavy.
Tune -

BODY POSTURES AND THEIR INTERPRETATIONS

Body postures Meanings
Sitting erect High energy and confidence
Leaning forward Interested in the speaker
Leaning backward Lack of interest
Open arms Openness, willingness to accept
Crossed arms Closed to new ideas, defensive
Tapping feet, biting nails Nervousness
Sitting with hands on the chin Attentiveness
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EYE-CONTACTS

Staring eyes demonstrate a feeling of superiority and an attitude to threaten.

Looking down demonstrates submission in front of the other person. (Some people tend to think with
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their eyes on the floor or by looking outside.)
 Frequent avoidance of eye contact would mean dishonesty or insincerity.

FROM FACIAL EXPRESSIONS, WE CAN INTERPRET THE FOLLOWING

 Facial expressions are neutral: This means that the person is calm, composed, or probably thinking
about something.
 Facial expressions are elated: This means the person is happy.
 Facial expressions are droopy: This means something is wrong with the person. It could be a
result of tension or work pressure.
 Facial expressions are still with large swollen eyes and unwillingness to interact: This would mean
anger.

GET A GRIP: SIX HANDSHAKES YOU NEED TO KNOW

1. Correct way: Connect with the other person web-to-web. (The web is the area between your
thumb and index finger.) Hold the person's hand firmly. Shake three times maximum, no higher
than three or four inches. Maintain constant eye contact.

2. Controller: As soon as your hands are linked, you purposely maneuver your hand onto the top.
There's no doubt you want to be in charge!

3. Sandwich: You envelope another person's hand such that s/he feels like the filling in a sandwich.
This gesture shows more intimacy and is not recommended the first time you meet some-one.

4. Limp fingers: This is the most awkward handshake for the other person. You extend only your
fingertips, and s/he is not sure how to grasp them or how hard to shake. More often, it signals lack
of confidence or self-esteem and is a poor way to start off a business relationship.

5. Dead fish: This is the slippery, damp hand you extend ... and others can't wait to get it over with.
If you are nervous and perspire, carry a handkerchief or wipe your hand on your clothes.

6. Bone crusher: Given accidentally and (sometimes on purpose), this one is practiced mostly be
men. It can be painful when given by someone with a big hand and strong grip to someone with a
smaller, more delicate hand.

Human body is the medium of the message. The popular notion of communication is that the more
one speaks, the more the person is communicating. Such has been the predominant impact of words on
the human mind! Books on written communication will tell you that the written word is more important
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than the spoken word. And books on oral communication point out that spoken communication is as
difficult and challenging as written communication. Researchers certainly have a right to put in
perspective the importance of their individual area of study but it is for the reader to put together the
different areas in order to evolve a complete picture of the significance of communication skills for day to
day interactions.

Non-verbal communication forms a vital part of the process of communication that an individual
goes through daily. And that individual is you-a student of management, tomorrow's manager, and the
multiple roles that you will play in the course of your professional career and your life. When you
understand the mysterious power of non-verbal communication, you will be able to comprehend better
how a manager conveys disapproval through the shrug of shoulders of the language that eyes or the face
or the body speak in meetings that can be time robbers!

Ever since Charles Darwin published his scientific study Expressions of the Emotions in Man and
Animals in 1872, considerable amount of interest has been generated in the study of body language.
Albert Mehrabian, R.L. Birdwhistle, E.T. Hall and others have significantly contributed to the study of
body language, i.e. silent or unspoken communication. According to Mehrabian, one of the foremost
experts in non-verbal communication, transmission of message is effective only when all the three
aspects of communication-the verbal, the vocal, and the visual-are in tandem with one another.
However, since it does not happen that way all the time, owing to human limitations, the impact of human
message occurs in the following manner:

Verbal-7% (words)
Vocal-38% (intonation, pitch, volume)
Visual-55% (gestures, postures, all physical movements).

The study of body language will help you to look beyond the words that people speak to convey
what they really mean, or silence that substitutes words that do not get spoken. Peter Drucker said, "The
most important thing in communication to hear what isn't being said."

WHAT IS NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION? / WHAT IS THE MEANING OF NON-

VERBAL COMMUNICATION

Non-verbal communication = Communication without words

To communicate means to share information, thoughts, or feelings. It can be said that there are
two main types of communication: verbal, and non-verbal.

When we communicate our thoughts without using words, we communicate non-verbally. The
popular aphorism "Actions speak louder than words" holds a great deal of meaning when it comes to
understanding the essence of non-verbal communication. Any skilled communicator, whether the person
is a negotiator, or a public speaker or a business person, knows very well the power of the unspoken
language and how to hear the unspoken word.
Non-verbal communication is a process of communication through sending and receiving
wordless messages. Let’s also keep in mind that verbal and non-verbal communications are
interconnected and they operate together in communication.

The difference between the verbal and the non-verbal communication is that we use our
voice in verbal communication and we use body signs in non-verbal communication.
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Non-verbal communication is the way in which we express our feelings, emotions, attitudes,
opinions, and views through our body movements. In verbal communication we use words; in non-
verbal communication we use our eyes, hands, face, and other body movements to express our
thought. The body and its movements substitute words.
It is astonishing how scholars, researchers, writers, and even ancient wise men have pronounced
observations about the subtle power of non-verbal communication. Some of these quotations are provided
here to give an idea about the interesting manner in which people have made their observations:

1. Watch out for the man whose stomach doesn't move when he laughs.
−CANTONESE PROVERB

2. The eyes of men converse as much as their tongues, with the advantage that the ocular
dialect needs no dictionary, but is understood the world over.
−RALPH WALDO EMERSON

3. Learning is acquired by reading books, but the much more necessary learning, the
knowledge of the world, is only to be acquired by reading men, and studying all the
various editions of them.
−LORD CHESTERFIELD

4. Communication is like a dance, with everyone engaged in intricate and shared movements
across many subtle dimensions, yet all strangely oblivious that they are doing so.
−WILLIAM CONDON

5. Mortals can keep no secret. If their lips are silent, they gossip with their fingertips, betrayal
forces its way through every pose.
−SIGMUND FREUD

We go to school to undergo a formal training in cognitive skills of learning. Yet, when it comes to
noticing sadness, anger, envy, love, fear and such emotions, we do not think of undergoing any kind of
training to decode these emotions. Yet, since the time of Charles Darwin, researchers have conducted in-
depth study of relationships between the non-verbal channels of communication.
It will do you a world of good if you ponder over the statements and raise a few questions in your
mind about the way you communicate with people even when you are not using words.

 How much of your hands do you use when you talk?

 Do you look at people in a conversation or do you also stare at them?
 Does your stare make people feel uncomfortable?
 When you make a presentation, do you stand with your hands interlocked in front at the fig
leaf position?
 Do you often keep your arms crossed while talking?
 Do you know what 'conversational overlap' is?

There are a whole lot of such small gestures that we use all the time without our conscious
realization. All these gestures, put together, form the language that your body speaks. When you express
well through your body language, people take a notice of you and admire you for your well-controlled
hand gestures, your standing posture, the colours that you wear, the way you sit, the way you walk and
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several other positive body language indicators. But, if our body speaks a loud language, people may not
feel inclined to admire us.
Body language is certainly not a new phenomenon. Since the beginning of time, human beings
have used body gestures to make their needs and desires understood by other people. Body language was
used as a tool of communication long before language developed as a communication tool.

Non-verbal communication is a wordless form of communication. It is mainly a silent form of

communication that does not involve speech or words

CHARACTERISTICS OF NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION

1. It is subtle, instinctive and natural Non-verbal communication is natural, subtle and instinctive.
Even when we attach an emoticon to our emails, we are communicating non-verbally. In addition,
remember that many people try and fake their non-verbal expression (with practice). For example,
one may force a smile to communicate a positive expression to the audience. Generally, our non-
verbal expressions are natural and come instinctively. It is better that way. Avoid faking it,
unnecessarily.

2. It is usually associated with other forms of communication Non-verbal symbols are usually
associated with other forms of communication such as oral or written communication. It is often
difficult to separate the verbal and non-verbal cues.

TYPES OF NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION

FACIAL EXPRESSION
A popular saying goes like this. "The face is the index of the heart". Whatever we feel deep within
ourselves is at once reflected in the face. It is very important in any face-to-face communication event.
We convey such a lot without speaking a word. For example, let us consider the facial expressions
generally associated with happiness, surprise, fear, anger, sadness, bewilderment, astonishment and
contentment. Let us also consider a smile, different kinds of smile, a frown, corners of lips, the position of
the eye brows, the cheeks-whether drawn up or back or drooping, the jaw, nose/nostrils and the chin. We
can easily mark all the signals sent through these parts of the face by others and observe our own
expressions by looking at ourselves in a mirror. The thoughts and feelings conveyed may be positive or
negative. It follows, then, that we can change our behaviour/expression by changing the inner nature. But
it is not easy. Much depends on how deeply motivated we are and what constructive efforts we make to
stay calm and relaxed, and send out positive signals to make the best of every given situation. Every
facial muscle is an instrument of communication.

EYE CONTACT
Everyone knows that eye contact is of paramount importance in all face-to-face communication. When
we look at somebody's face we focus primarily on his eyes and try to understand what he means. The
eyes, along with the eyebrows, eyelids and the size of pupils convey our innermost feeling. Eyebrows and
eyelids raised and combined with dilated pupils tell us that the person is excited, surprised or frightened.
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On the other hand, eyebrows with upper and lower eyelids closed and combined with constricted pupils
tell us that the person is angry or in pain. These are the most familiar eye patters.

Along with these eye patterns, eye contact and eye movements are also meaningful. Looking at somebody
for a long time shows the intensity of our interest in him. It the eye contact is brief, or we take our eyes
off the person very soon, it indicates nervousness or embarrassment on our part. Of course, eye contact
and eye movements convey-their meaning in combination with other facial expressions.

GESTURES
In addition to facial expressions and eye contact, other parts of our body move in a very meaningful
manner. These movements are called gestures-i.e., the physical movements of arms, legs, hands, torso and
head. They play a very important role in conveying meaning without using words. For example, pounding
fist on a table shows 'anger', a fore-finger held high above the head shows 'Number I' and a fore-finger
and a thumb touching to form a circle stands for 'OK'. In the same way, arms spread apart convey the
meaning of 'wide', shuffling from one leg to another means 'nervous' and a torso erect and extended,
slightly forward, has been interpreted as 'intense'.

It is important to note that gestures are not used individually but in relation to another person, and acquire
meaning at particular times. That particular time, in an interpersonal situation, may be at the beginning,
middle or end of a communication event. Speaking, for example, seems to be necessarily linked with
gesturing. It has been observed that intensity of speech is directly associated with the size of a gesture.
The greater the gesture, the louder the speech. Speech and gestures go together, and, therefore, have to be
properly co-ordinated. In the absence of speech-gesture - co-ordination, we experience confusion and
discomfort.

PROXEMICS

It is the study of the space around us. People often refer to their need for "personal space," which is also
an important type of nonverbal communication. The amount of distance we need and the amount of space
we perceive as belonging to us is influenced by a number of factors including social norms, cultural
expectations, situational factors, personality characteristics, and level of familiarity. For example, the
amount of personal space needed when having a casual conversation with another person usually varies
between 18 inches to four feet. On the other hand, the personal distance needed when speaking to a crowd
of people is around 10 to 12 feet.

HAPTICS

Communicating through touch is another important nonverbal behaviour. There has been a substantial
amount of research on the importance of touch in infancy and early childhood. Harry Harlow's classic
monkey study demonstrated how deprived touch and contact impedes development. Baby monkeys raised
by wire mothers experienced permanent deficits in behavior and social interaction. Touch can be used to
communicate affection, familiarity, sympathy, and other emotions.

In her book Interpersonal Communication: Everyday Encounters, author Julia Wood writes that touch is
also often used as a way to communicate both status and power. Researchers have found that high-status
individuals tend to invade other people's personal space with greater frequency and intensity than lower-
status individuals. Sex differences also play a role in how people utilize touch to communicate meaning.
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Women tend to use touch to convey care, concern, and nurturance. Men, on the other hand, are more
likely to use touch to assert power or control over others. (Tactilics is the study of touch and comprises
touch and body contact)

HEAD, BODY SHAPE AND POSTURE

In any face-to-face communication or meeting or interview the way we hold our head is very important.
Everybody is aware of the age old saying, "Hold your head high". It is a sign of honour and self respect,
confidence, integrity and interest in the person/persons before us. A head bent low, depending upon the
situation, would show modesty, politeness or diffidence. On the other extreme a head drawn too far
backwards or stiffly held straight up indicates pride or haughtiness. Head jerks indicate insolence,
rejection or agreement, depending upon the context and personality of the person concerned. Nodding the
head sideways or back and forth conveys the intended meaning more eloquently than words.

Behavioural scientists have studied the shapes of our bodies and have broadly put them in the following
three types:
(a) Ectomorph : thin, youthful and tall.
(b) Mesomorph : strong, athletic, muscular, and bony.
(c) Endomorph : fat, round and soft.

We cannot do much about the shape of our body, but we can no doubt put it to effective use. Both our
body shape and posture affect what we think about ourselves, how we relate to others and how others
relate to us or respond to our moves. Mostly we act spontaneously, whether we meet a friend or
participate in a meeting. But we do become self-conscious while appearing for an interview or making a
presentation. On such an occasion we try to make the best possible impression. The effort itself may make
the posture awkward. Leaning forward or backward, standing or sitting erect, slouching haphazardly or
bending sideways- these entire postures make an immediate impression on the other person's mind.

APPEARANCE
Appearance, for our purpose, includes clothing, hair, jewellery, cosmetics etc. All these may seem
unrelated to body language. But on having a closer look we find that they are very meaningfully related to
our face, eyes, gestures, posture etc.

A famous writer has said that a man is recognized by his "dress and address". "Dress" does not need any
explanation. By address he means the way a person speaks to others. Every occasion has its own
particular type of dress. It may be formal or informal. It is normally a part of an organization's work rules
to have a formal suit or combination of jacket and trousers for the working hours. Certain organizations
have a uniform for all levels of workers. If one changes from the formal dress to informal or casual he is
easily noticed, and his dress speaks volumes about his attitude to life, to work, to his colleagues and his
own feelings. That is also the reason why invitation cards to formal occasions like cocktails, receptions,
dinners etc. convey instructions regarding the dress the guests are expected to appear in.

Silence:
You may have heard of the phrase, ‘the sound of silence’. Sometimes, staying silent can communicate
much more than words can. Silence can be powerful, sad, and happy or it can simply communicate to
others that we do not want to engage with them. Good communicators are able to listen, and to use
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comfortable silences, to connect with other people. There is no need to think that communication is all
about words!

ARTIFACTS

Objects and images are also tools that can be used to communicate nonverbally. On an online forum, for
example, you might select an avatar to represent your identity online and to communicate information
about who you are and the things you like. People often spend a great deal of time developing a particular
image and surrounding themselves with objects designed to convey information about the things that are
important to them. Uniforms, for example, can be used to transmit a tremendous amount of information
about a person. A soldier will don fatigues, a police offers will wear a uniform, and a doctor will wear a
white lab coat. At a mere glance, these outfits tell people what a person does for a living.

IMPORTANCE OF NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION

IMPORTANCE OF BODY LANGUAGE

Regarding the importance of body language, management consultant Nancy Austin says. "When people
don't know whether to believe what they are hearing or what they are seeing, they go with the body
language-it tells the truth. You can play fast and loose with words, but it's much more difficult to do that
with gestures". Psychologist Paul Ekman says, "We talk with our vocal cords, but we communicate with
our facial expressions, our tone of voice, our whole body".

Understanding body language has immense practical use. In this regard educational psychologist Marilyn
Maple says, "When you can consciously 'read' what others are saying unconsciously, you can deal with
issues-at work and at home-before they become problems". It has been observed that most of the
nonverbal communication at workplace centres on a single theme: power and power gives one status
consciousness. On careful observation, in a meeting, we can look around and see who has the highest
status. In every species and society, those who are in control try to appear large, strong and fearless.
Those who feel left out, or find themselves powerless, give out different kinds of body signals.

Professor Albert Mehrabian has very aptly illustrated this point by giving the example of officer-soldier
relationship in army. He says, "Status manifests itself subtly in a relaxed posture and way of interacting.
The classic example is the soldier standing at attention in the presence of a superior officer. His body is
extremely tense and in perfect symmetry-signs of subservience". Almost the same situation prevails in
any other organization when a junior worker has to appear in the presence of a senior executive/officer. It
is their status and role-relationship that is reflected in this way.

1. Non-verbal communication is important in all the aspects of our lives. It helps in creating an
impression. Why do some people make a lasting impression while others are quite forgettable?
The answer may be in their smile. Research from Duke University proves that we like and
remember those who smile at us-and shows why we find them more memorable. Using functional
magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI), the Duke researchers found that the orbitofrontal cortices (a
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"reward centre" in the brain) were more active when subjects were learning and recalling the
names of smiling individuals. You will be unforgettable.
2. You will improve your productivity. Charles Garfield, the author of Peak Performance, once
coached the Russian Olympic weight-lifting team. Garfield noticed that when team members lifted
to exhaustion, they would invariably grimace at the painful effort. In an experiment, he
encouraged the athletes to smile when they got to that point of exhaustion. This seemingly minor
difference enabled them to add 2-3 more reps to their performance. No matter the task, when you
grimace or frown while doing it, you are sending your brain the message, "This is really difficult. I
should stop." The brain then responds by sending stress chemicals into your bloodstream. And this
creates a vicious circle: the more stressed you are, the more difficult the task becomes. When you
smile, your brain gets the message, "It's not so bad. I can do this!"
3. You will positively contaminate others. Some nonverbal behaviours can bring out the best in
people. Smiling is one of them, as it directly influences how other people respond. When you
smile at someone, they almost always smile in return. And, because facial expressions trigger
corresponding feelings, the smile you get back actually changes that person's emotional state in a
positive way. Maybe that's why a DePauw University study found that people whose smiles were
weakest in snapshots from childhood through young adulthood were most likely to be divorced in
middle or old age. (l in 4 compared to l in 20 for the widest smiles.) And if you ever go to trial,
keep this in mind: Although courtroom judges are equally likely to find smilers and non-smilers
guilty, they tend to give smilers lighter penalties, a phenomenon called the "smile-leniency
effect." Want to brighten your mood, make a lasting impression, encourage collaboration, lighten
your work load, and positively influence others? Then smile - really smile.
4. It helps you to be effective in your communication and to gain a better understanding of people
around you.
5. It serves to express emotions or send messages that strengthen relations or to demonstrate power
and position. It has a lot of impact on interactions.
6. It can even deceive a person therefore it is important to understand non-verbal communication,
because it helps you as a speaker and also as a listener.
7. It is important to understand and interpret the non-verbal cues when someone is speaking or
listening to you. If you feel that your listeners are not interested, it is necessary that you ask them
questions to keep them involved.
8. It helps you to be careful not to use the wrong non-verbal signals. For example, if your
subordinate comes to you with a problem, an amused expression on your face could give a wrong
signal to him or her.
9. Your appearance, handshake, and your walking style communicate a lot. It helps us to use them
effectively. Ex; if a positive signal is being sent to you, make sure to respond to the signal. For
example, if someone smiles at you, it is good that you smile back.
10. It makes one to effectively interpret the meaning. It is not always necessary that you may interpret
the non-verbal signals accurately. For example, if someone is sitting with the hands on the
forehead, it could mean that this person is thinking or it could also be that he or she is having a
headache. It is, therefore, necessary to look for non-verbal cues and then apply your judgement to
effectively interpret the meaning.
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LISTENING

People listen more than they speak; read or write.1 Rankin (1929) gives the following statistics about the time
spent by adults in different occupations on the four functions of language:

Listening 45%
Speaking 30%
Reading 16%
Writing 09%

Students in colleges listen and write more than others2 (Barker, Edwards, Gaines, Gladney and Holley, 1980) as
the following figures show:

Listening 53%
Speaking 16%
Reading 17%
Writing 14%

Listening and speaking are interdependent but without effective listening, speaking cannot contribute to
meaningful, and mutually supportive, human communication. Writers and leaders have often emphasised the
primacy of listening,3 and the deference of speaking to listening.

Let a fool hold his tongue, and he will pass for a

sage. (Publius Syrus)

One advantage of talking to yourself is that you know at least

somebody's listening. (Franklin P. Jones)

The opposite of talking is not listening. The opposite of

talking is waiting. (Fran Lebowitz)

History repeats itself because no one listens

the first time. (Anonymous)
In the present context of advanced communication technology, we frequently resort to oral and aural
communication for most transactions. We use the telephone, the mobile phone, voice mail, video conferencing,
electronic chat and several other means to supplement face-to-face conversation. In these and more, listening
determines the usefulness or futility of feedback, according to whether it is good or bad listening.

ADVANTAGES OF LISTENING

Effective listening facilitates the spontaneous flow of the speakers' thoughts because they are enabled to think
and organise their ideas, in patterns of their own choice, without interruption from the listener. The listener is
also enabled to comprehend the totality of the message with its verbal and emotional content. Listening is the
fundamental basis of mutual speaker-listener partnership for effective communication. In his much read book,
Human Communication, the Basic Course,5 Joseph A. DeVito mentions six other advantages of effective
listening:

 It helps others because the listener hears, empathises and understands more deeply, while being involved
in the listening process than at other times. How thoughtless we are when we fail to listen to the complaint
of our sobbing child against her teacher by abruptly putting an end to communicating with her, with our curt
dismissal: 'Tell me what wrong did you do.' Haven't we failed to help her solve her problem?
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 Effective listening enhances the social popularity and acceptance of an attentive and supportive
listener. A distressed student will prefer to speak to his personal mentor or tutor known for his or her
sympathy and helpfulness rather than to the convener of the Discipline Committee who has neither the time
nor the patience to sit through a listening session.
 Good listeners pick up knowledge of persons and situations, and of problems and conflicts they have
handled and helped to solve. Often companies choose their ombudspersons (those who listen to complaints
and help solve them) and mediators from among those who have such experience and knowledge.
 Good listeners often pay heed to warnings and avoid problems, if they can be avoided. An empathetic
listening to student complaints can help avoid many problems of both teachers and learners that result from
poor student performance.
 The power and influence of effective listeners is well attested by the following they have among
workers, who repose confidence in such individuals in times of conflicts, dead-locks and lock-outs.
 Effective listeners are known for their ability to make well-reasoned and acceptable decisions. Student
counselling (whether it helps one's curriculum making or career choice or solving a personal problem)
depends on effective listening for its success.

TYPES OF LISTENING

Understanding the types of listening is extremely essential, as the first step. There are some listeners who focus
too much on 'people' and tend to miss the specific technical points of any work. Then there are some listeners
who are highly 'action-orien
ted' and miss aspects of the people who are speaking to them. Let us take an example to illustrate this.
A company is introducing a new product and the sales managers are being told about it. Amongst the
managers, there would be possibly three categories of people. In the first category would be the managers who
would be focusing on whether their respective sales teams would be able to launch the new product (people-
oriented). In the second category would be the sales managers who would be interested in the new product and
not whether their teams would be capable of selling it (action-oriented). In the third category would be the set
of managers who would not be listening at all or would be doing so partially. There could be another category
of people who would be critical about the new product. They would be arguing on various issues such as the
fallout of burdening their sales staff with a bigger workload, or what would be the promotions undertaken for
the new product, or whether the product would prove to be better than those of the competitors.
It is important to note that it may not be right at this stage to be highly critical, because unless you have
understood what the speaker wants to convey, it will be wrong to judge him or her or debate extensively on the
subject.
Therefore, as a listener, the first step that we should take is to understand the different types of listening.
This understanding will help us to mould ourselves as listeners and make us aware which type of listening we
should adopt in each particular instance.
Listening could take three forms. There would be situations when we have to listen to get information.
Another situation could be that of a person approaching us to discuss a certain situation or experience. The third
type would be a situation when you are listening to a product demonstration from a sales agent, and you need to
take a purchase decision that would be crucial to your business. All the three types of listening and the
approaches to them are different. As listeners, we often do not realize these differences and are not' conscious'
about the type of listening that we need to adopt.

The three major types of listening are

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CONTENT LISTENING
Content listening is primarily to receive information, to learn something, or to keep yourself abreast of a
situation. Other examples of content listening would be listening to the technical specifications of a product
during a product launch in a company or listening to the highlights of your company's performance during the
CFO's live talk on the intranet. While content listening is about getting information, it would not be good on the
listener's part to challenge the speaker, as this may often become counterproductive. The focus in this type of
listening should be on gathering information, rather than making any judgment. There is scope for arguments
and debates in critical listening (to be discussed later).
It is extremely essential to take notes of what is being said. In case any clarifications are required or if
the speaker has used a jargon that you do not understand, it is important to ask questions and get the doubts
sorted out.
The three key strategies to be followed in content listening are as follows:
 Instead of arguing with the speaker, try and focus on what is being said.
 Do not think critically about what is being said.
 Try and listen so as to get the message intended.

The first step while listening to content is to get the bias about the speaker out, even before he or she starts
speaking. As a listener, you would always be interested to know whether the speaker is credible and whether he
or she has the experience to speak. This information can be secured by trying to find out more about the
speaker. Generally, the credibility of a speaker is understood by this person's CV or the rank he or she holds in
an organization.
The second step in the process is to effectively listen and focus on the content. Before discussing a
significant point, the speaker will tell the audience that 'this part is important' or he or she will repeat the point
to indicate its importance. At this time, the listeners need to pay extra attention.
The third important step is to take notes, which will help you to recapitulate the information given. In
addition, the notes will provide a summary of the content that you have just heard. They will also serve as a
strong reference when you need to look back upon what was said.
An additional point in content listening is to interact with the speaker. Interaction means trying to ask
questions and clearing any factual doubts. Since content listening is purely based on 'content', there is very little
to argue about, assuming that the speaker has the authority and experience to speak on the given subject and
that he touches upon only the relevant facts or information. It is better to ask questions if you have any 'specific'
doubts. For example, if the sales head in a meeting mentions that the retention percentage for new clients is 30
in Mumbai, a particular doubt that could arise in the listener's mind about the retention percentages in other
cities or what could be the reason for such a low retention percentage in Mumbai. Unnecessary critiquing
should be avoided as this will make your listening process counterproductive.

EMPATHIC LISTENING
The goal of this type of listening is to understand and realize the feelings of the speaker. It is about listening,
without any prejudices. Empathic listening may not indicate whether you approve the idea of the speaker, but
the purpose is to give a very patient hearing to what is being said. In the previous type of listening, you focused
on the content of the speech. However, here you are trying to help the 'speaker' is in at the time of the
conversation and responding accordingly. In such a situation, it is very important to maintain confidentiality
and not disclose any part of the conversation to any other colleague. In a professional sphere, a person may
require empathic listening when this person is not happy with the work that he or she is doing, or when this
person has been overloaded with work. In addition, there could be personal issues when a person is not able to
give 100 per cent at work and needs someone to listen to him or her. The problem need not always be work-
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related, but could also be personal issues or a poor performance appraisal that is affecting this person's
performance. It could even be other issues, such as colleagues spreading rumours.
There could be plenty of instances such as the one discussed in Exhibit 4.3 in our working lives, and not
all cases would necessarily involve a person from our own team. It is extremely important in empathic listening
to be sensitive to the emotional trauma that the speaker is going through. Try and approach the speaker with a
positive frame of mind, making sure that you do not add to his or her worries. In addition, make sure not to give
suggestions until this person asked for them. Empathize with the person and, if possible, help him or her out.
The first important step is to make the speaker comfortable by suggesting that it is all right to share his
or her worries and apprehensions. Then, listen to the speaker and try and understand the problem. Clarify, if
you have any doubts and try to summarize. The next step is to try and solve the problem.

CRITICAL/EVALUATIVE LISTENING
Here, one has to analyse the situation and the speaker. When an external consultant or a motivational trainer is
invited to give some advice, you have to critically analyse the content in order to make best use of it. In many
such situations, the logical aspects, evidences, implications, and the intention of the speaker have to be focused
upon. For example, when a salesperson gives a demonstration of a product and talks about only the benefits of
this product, while at the same time undermining competitors, the listener has to move into the evaluative
mode. The listener has to be on the watch for any kind of bias that might come up, for inadequate information,
and for the factual correctness of all that is being said.
Many speakers try and connect to the emotional side of the listeners and often get away with it.
Typically, a salesperson might deliver positive feelings about the product he or she is selling, and try to
associate negative feelings with what the competitor has to offer. The listener should be very cautions of what
is being said. In case of any doubts, clarifications should be sought.
Often, speakers make generalizations, saying, for example, 'All the products that are currently available
in the market are of poor quality'. A listener should take such statements with a pinch of salt and ask questions
to clarify facts-for example, questions such as 'how do you say that the other products are not good?' or 'have
you done any study that does a critical comparison of the products?
Whatever is the case, it is finally the listener who decides what needs to be accepted and what needs to
be rejected outright. Do not take decisions on the basis of immediate feelings, but rather take your time to come
to conclusions. This advice would be applicable in cases when you need to make strategic decisions that are
going to cost your company.
Sometimes, when you are listening in the evaluative mode, you may not have the freedom to ask
questions or can probably ask only limited questions. In those cases, try and note down points and validate
them later to take a decision. For example, imagine that your company hires an influential consultant, who has
been working with your company for quite some time now. The consultant has been referred by a senior
manager to help your department out, but you do not find the consultant's work convincing enough. In such a
situation, you cannot ask too many questions as the consultant is associated with the top brass of the company.
It is, however, always very important for listeners to engage the speakers in a mode of active listening.
Active listening means 'actively engaging self and the speaker'. Whatever bias a person listening might hold,
the listener should hear and understand what the speaker has to say.

HEARING AND LISTENING

Hearing is a physical activity that happens when one responds to auditory stimuli4 and it begins and ends with
the response. Listening, on the other hand, involves thought, emotion and interpersonal relationship. It starts
with the physical stimulus of speech, but it builds on it to create a meaningful interaction with others, with
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mutual trust and support. Unlike the involuntary response, often unaccompanied by thinking and attention that
hearing is known for, listening involves one's whole personality in order to make feedback significant. This
may be illustrated by the behaviour of a student in a class. When one is not mentally and emotionally attentive,
one merely sits through a not so very interesting, though important, lecture with indifference. He or she merely
hears the words, which mean nothing to them. On the other hand, the listening student strains his ears to fight
the noise around, sits erect and leans forward in order to get the best of the lecture, because he or she needs the
information for the crucial test to be held the following week. This does not mean that one need not possess a
keen sense of hearing. On the contrary, accurate hearing and alone can lead to useful listening. Our auditory
sense, therefore, has to be trained to hear, and hear sharply and precisely. This is especially true of hearing
English being spoken in several contexts such as placement interviews in multinational companies, call centres
and lectures by visiting overseas professionals and experts. Imperfect hearing distorts words and corrupts the
message.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LISTENING AND HEARING

1. Type of act

Listening is a Psychological Act. It means it relates to a conscious mind or mental phenomena.

Hearing is a Physiological Act. It implies it is one of the biological mechanisms involved in the functioning of a
human body.

2. Process

Listening is an active mental process.

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Hearing is a passive bodily process.

3. Operation

Listening involves simultaneous operation of: Sound detecting eardrums, Conscious psyche (i.e. fully aware
mind), and An alert reasoning brain.

Hearing involves only the working of audio sensing eardrums subconscious functioning as a sound detecting
bodily organ.

4. Starting point

Listening starts after hearing when we begin to select a particular type of sound focus on it and make an
interpretation out of it.

On the contrary, hearing begins before we listen when sound is subconsciously detected on our eardrums. Here,
we don’t try to make a meaningful understanding because if we do so it becomes a listening process.

5. Activity

In the listening process, we first focus our attention on a particular form or type of sounds (like speech, music,
etc.) we are interested in and then try to deduce its meaning.

In the hearing process, may types of sounds fall on our ears, but we are not entirely aware of what we hear. We
are only capable to hear all those sounds that fall within the human audible range of 20 Hz to 20 Khz. We hear
sounds irrespective of whether we like or dislike them.

6. Reason

We listen because we feel certain sounds are important to gain knowledge, receive useful information and are,
therefore, worth listening.

We hear because we neither have a full awareness nor any control over it. To hear or not to isn't within our
choice or preference.

7. Selection and focus

In listening we are selective and focus only on some wanted sounds and filter out (ignore) other unwanted
sounds.

In hearing, we are not selective at all. Here, we neither focus on a particular sound nor filter out any unwanted
sounds. We are compelled to hear all present sounds altogether.

8. Interchangeability

The moment we stop paying any further attention to what we hear the process of listening again becomes
hearing.

The point at which we get fully aware of what we hear, the process of hearing becomes listening.

9. Attention and efforts

In listening, we pay close attention and put focused mental efforts to derive the meaning of a kind of sound we
have decided to listen.
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In hearing, we neither pay any close attention nor put any mental efforts to figure out what we hear.

10. Volunteered or not

Listening is done voluntarily by a person. In other words, here, a person volunteers (takes a part), chooses or
decides whether to or not to listen to something and for how long (time).

For example, we turn on a radio for some time and later turn it off when we lose interest to listen.

Hearing is done involuntarily by every individual. In simple words, an individual has no choice regarding
volunteering or not, to hear. If one is within the range of any propagating sound, then he is bound to hear it no
matter what his choice is.

For an instance, when it thunders we hear an unstoppable loud rumbling noise coming from the sky. We can't
stop it irrespective of our individual wish or choice.

11. Nature of process

Listening is a secondary and temporary process:

It is secondary since it begins only after the primary hearing stage.

It is temporary because we can't pay a focused mental attention to something interesting we hear for more than
few hours.

For an instance, if an ongoing college lecture doesn't seem to cease soon students start yawning out of boredom
and stop paying further attention. It doesn't matter, how well, and with deep interest a professor teaches.

Thus, listening is only a temporal phenomenon, and it is subjected to an individual's psychological (mental)
capacity to listen.

Hearing is a primary and continuous process:

It is primary because a listening process always starts after it.

It is continuous since it is always happening whether we decide or not to listen. There is hardly any time when
our ears don't hear anything. Some unwanted sound is always present in the vicinity of our ears no matters
where we are present. Even during the silence of late night hours some disturbance always manages to creep in.

For an example, a gang of dogs is fighting and barking, a watchman or security guard whistling during his late
night patrolling to ward off thieves, a vibrating noise of air conditioners, so on.

Thus, the sound is always present in our background what varies is simply its intensity.

12. Conscious or subconscious

Listening occurs at a conscious level. That is, whatever we listen to we are entirely aware of it and mentally
involved in it.

Hearing occurs on a subconscious level. That is, anything we hear to, we are only partially aware and not
mentally involved in it. In other words, we sense or feel the sound but don't focus any attention on it.

13. When it happens?

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Listening happens only when we take an active mental interest to understand the meaning or at least know some
background of a type of sound we are hearing. It involves psyche i.e. a conscious mind.

Hearing is always happening even if you don't take any keen psychological interest. It is so since the sound
(though unwanted) continuously fall on your ears and as a part of our bodily function we sense it and thus hear
it unwillingly.

Examples

First example of listening and hearing:

1. Imagine you are standing in a noisy station waiting for a train.

2. While waiting, your ears are receiving a mix of many sounds simultaneously generated by people,
passing trains' horns, announcement speakers fixed on the platform, old ceiling fans, carts carrying luggage, so
on.
3. You are not paying any focused attention to this blend of sounds except for regular announcements
made on your train's arrival time.
4. In such a case, you are listening only to train's arrival timing alerts and hearing to the cacophony of all
other remaining sounds.

Second example of hearing and listening:

1. Imagine a classroom scene where a history lecture is ongoing. In this class, there is a presence of ten
students. Out of these students, one student named John is busy looking out of the classroom windows and not
paying any sincere attention to what his teacher is teaching. It seems he is bored and lacks interest to learn at
the moment.
2. In this case, though John is physically present in the class in reality he is mentally absent. In other
words, John is hearing each and every word uttered by his history teacher but not listening to the lecture.
3. Since the remaining nine students, are understanding what their teacher is saying we can conclude that
these students are actively listening and not hearing the discourse.