Back to Basics: 7 Tips for Effective Listening

To be successful in their roles, internal auditors must master the skills of effective writing, speaking, and listening. Among these skills, listening is arguably the most critical yet challenging to develop.

Effective listening poses a challenge because individuals often prioritize their own speech over attentive listening. According to a recent study from the Harvard Business Review, senders perceive the voice mail they send as more significant than the voice mail they receive. This skewed focus on self-expression hinders effective listening.

Furthermore, listening requires conscious effort and hard work. Although it may appear effortless, dedicated focus and concentration are essential for effective listening to take place.

Internal auditors regularly engage in listening, absorbing explanations, justifications, and defenses of financial practices and procedures. Collaborating with colleagues from diverse backgrounds, including accounting, finance, marketing, and information systems, amplifies the complexity of listening skills. Particularly, explanations of "unusual" practices challenge an internal auditor's listening abilities. Fortunately, several techniques can enhance these skills:

• Concentrate on the speaker: Resist distractions and fully engage in active listening. Avoid allowing thoughts about pending tasks or personal matters to disrupt your attention. While individuals typically speak at a rate of 175 to 200 words per minute, research suggests that our brains can process up to 600 to 1,000 words per minute. However, unused brainpower can divert focus from the present message. Actively concentrate to ensure effective communication.

• Display nonverbal cues: Demonstrate your attentive listening through nonverbal communication. Maintain eye contact, nod in agreement, and adopt an open body posture. Nonverbal messages hold significant influence, often being three times more powerful than verbal messages. Failing to display engaged nonverbal cues can hinder effective communication.

• Delay judgments: Avoid premature evaluations when listening. Resist the temptation to form immediate judgments or assumptions about the speaker's next point. Hasty evaluations hinder effective listening, especially when the listener disagrees with the speaker. Preconceived notions can distort the intended meaning of the message.

• Remain open-minded: Guard against defensiveness when listening. Do not take the speaker's words personally unless they were intended as such. Effective listening does not imply agreement with the speaker's perspective but requires an open mind. Over-explaining or becoming defensive shifts the focus from listening to proving one's point. Respond calmly, acknowledging differing opinions.

• Practice paraphrasing: Enhance listening and problem-solving skills by paraphrasing what you heard. Summarize the speaker's message in your own words and relay it back to them. This technique ensures accurate understanding and encourages further elaboration from the speaker.

• Observe emotions: Pay attention to both verbal and nonverbal cues related to emotions. Effective listening involves not only hearing the words but also understanding the speaker's emotions conveyed through tone of voice, body language, and gestures. Recognizing these emotional nuances enriches comprehension.

• Seek clarification: Actively seek clarification by asking questions. Clarifying doubts and seeking additional information ensures accurate comprehension. Open-ended questions prompt the speaker to provide more detailed responses. Formulate questions that indicate a genuine interest in understanding rather than drawing premature conclusions.

Listen Actively

While listening styles may vary, internal auditors who practice active listening are likely to become exceptional listeners. Active listening requires acknowledging that effective listening is not automatic but demands effort. The result of active listening is improved communication efficiency and effectiveness.

The Listening Quiz

Evaluate your listening skills by asking a trusted peer with whom you regularly communicate to respond "yes" or "no" to the following questions. Consider their responses as an unbiased assessment of your listening abilities:

1. Can you recall an incident in the past two weeks where you felt I wasn't listening to you?
2. Do you feel relaxed during our conversations at least 90 percent of the time?
3. Do I maintain eye contact with you most of the time while you're speaking?
4. Do I become defensive when you share opinions with which I disagree?
5. Do I frequently ask questions to clarify your statements?
6. Do I sometimes overreact to the information you provide?
7. Do I interrupt and finish your sentences?
8. Do I often change my opinion after discussing a matter with you?
9. Do I dominate the conversation when you try to communicate something?
10. Do I frequently engage in distracting behaviors like playing with objects while you speak?

Evaluate your listening skills based on your peer's responses. If you receive nine or ten correct answers, you demonstrate excellent listening skills. Seven or eight correct answers indicate good listening ability. Five or six correct answers reflect average listening skills, while fewer than five correct answers suggest areas for improvement in listening proficiency.