What are the various types of listening?

Listening is an essential part of spoken communication. Speaking and listening go together and oral communication cannot be effective without proper listening. Poor listening defeats the very purpose of spoken words. Listening is a deliberate effort and is much more than hearing. It requires getting the full meaning of what is being said.

Listening is of various types depending upon the speaker.

(i)            Discriminative Listening: – when the listener differentiates between different parts of the speaker messages.

(ii)          Evaluative Listening: – listening is said to be evaluative when the listener evaluates the evidence and reaches a conclusion.

(iii)         Appreciative Listening: – here the listener shows by words or his body language that he likes some part of a speech and agrees with the speaker.

(iv)          Empathic Listening: – when the listener puts himself in the place of the position of the speaker it is called Empathic Listening.

(v)           Active Listening