Difference between Listening and Hearing

Hearing is a natural ability to detect sound : Listening is a skill, which is developed to understand, interpret the message accurately. It does not require much of an effort to hear, whereas Listening to be effective, takes much of an effort and time on the part of a listener.

Steps involve in Effective Listening:

Hearing. Hearing just means detecting sound without have complete awareness of what has been said.
Understanding. The next part of listening is when you comprehend what is being said. Judging. After you are sure you understand what the speaker has said, think about whether it makes sense. Do you believe what you have heard? Your own interpretation of the message and then see how accurate the understanding is.

Concepts Related to Listening Ability
1.Concentration 2.Questioning 3.Objectivity 4.Note Taking 5.Feedback

1.Concentration : Motivation and Demotivation : Anticipate what the speaker will say next :Focus on the message :Avoid interruption, let the speaker finish first.

2.Questioning Use of questioning is an effective listening strategy. It serves two purposes:
message gets clarified, Speaker gets a positive feedback that a listener is involved.

3. Objectivity : I. Minimize the impact of emotion-laden words : II. Judge content, not delivery III. React fairly and sensibly IV. Overcome distraction; internal as well as external

4. Note Taking
The usefulness of note taking depends on the situation.

5. Feedback
Feed is important in the listening process to that a speaker knows that his/her message is understood.

General Barriers

Faking attention : Avoid difficult listening & dismissing the topic as uninteresting : Listening only for facts
Criticizing physical appearance and delivery : Yielding easily to distractions.

Listening ability vary according to: Interest in topic , the delivery of the message, importance of the info, length of the message, complexity of the message, the delivery of the message, personal problems, external distraction.