Whether you are working as a radio presenter in the golden City of Dubai or a substandard radio station in a countryside, training yourself to ACTIVELY LISTEN to people's opinions and comment is not an easy task.
I have huge respect for radio presenters.
Firstly, these sets of people are always in a position where they have to get calls from people whom in most cases, they won't see the callers facial expressions or body movements. You must have noticed that it's easier to communicate with people when you can get both audio and visuals. In their case, they have to deal with whatever they pick out from the voice calls. Of course, this can only be possible when they actively LISTEN to what the caller is saying. It also makes it possible for them to give suitable feedback to the caller.
Secondly, I don't know how clear the signal is in your part of the world, but over here, there have been several cases of people calling radio stations when the signals are not strong enough so, it becomes difficult for radio presenters to make sense of what the person is saying. Other times, this poor signal can generate an awkward sound which, from experience, hurts the ears of radio presenters. Nonetheless, they still LISTEN and try to pick out something tangible from the conversation.
Finally, people call radio stations and create their talking point instead of sticking with the already exciting one. Some also throw shades at the presenters or previous callers. In an unprofessional setting, such actions can lead to outbursts of emotions and conflict, but it always surprises me to see how calm these presenters can be. They keep their emotions in check and LISTEN before deciding to either correct the notion of the caller or cut the person off.
In a nutshell, the listening skill displayed by radio presenters is on a whole new level. They don't just hear, they try to understand what they are hearing and that's what makes them effective Communicators.
Taking the route of an Active Listener
I can remember taking a course called 'Business Communication' during my penultimate year in University. For most of the course duration, a lot of emphases was laid on the importance of active listening, but at that time, I didn't see it as an important aspect of communication.
I used this two years later as an instructor in a cross-cultural language institute and I have been practising active listening since then till date. Now, I can tell you that it works. It works to listen actively during casual conversations or seminars or podcasts or any other sort of gathering.
I also consider listening to be an important aspect of learning. This is why I will always get into DreemPort's Discord Channel during PYPT (Pimp Your Post Thursday). I listen to the conversation irrespective of how long it takes and I have been able to improve on my understanding of different accents associated with speaking English.
To cap it all, it's important to note that I listen to learn, pick salient points and also enjoy a discussion.
Have you ever thought of working on your listening skill?
Thanks For Not Missing Any Full-stop Or Comma
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