EFFECTIVE LISTENING SKILLS
“If speaking is silver, then listening is gold.” -- Turkish Proverb

Before we get into the techniques of effective listening, let’s define what we mean by the word “Listening.”

Listening is the process of receiving, constructing meaning from, and responding to spoken and/or nonverbal messages.

Listening is an activity that most of us are not really taught how to do effectively. We tend to be overly concerned with the outgoing sounds, rather than the incoming signals. Listening is as important, maybe even more important, than speaking. Without proper listening skills it is difficult to communicate effectively with others.

We’ve all met the person who talks a mile a minute and doesn’t really want to hear what others have to say. Is this person actually communicating? The answer is NO. If you do all of the talking and never listen, you will never really communicate very well with others.

In this unit we will investigate effective listening skills, barriers to effective listening, and methods of improving our own listening skills.

British English Vs. American English

British English	American English
Colour	Color
Flavour	Flavor
Harbour	Harbor
Honour	Honor
Humour	Humor
Labour	Labor
Neighbour	Neighbor
Rumour	Rumor
Calibre	Caliber
Centre	Center
Fibre	Fiber
Meagre	Meager
metre	meter
Theatre	Theater
Centre	Center
Metre	Meter
Litre	Liter
Offence	Offense
Defence	Defense
Modelling	Modeling
Fulfil	Fulfill
Ageing	Aging
Sizeable	Sizable
Recognise	Recognize
Analyse	Analyze
Travelling	Traveling

What is interview transcription?

Interview transcription is the process of converting an audio interview into a written transcript.

Example for interview transcription can be between the student and the principal of the college, candidate applying for job and the Associate head of the company.

Many different types of companies and individuals conduct recorded interviews for many different reasons. Authors conduct many interviews when doing research for their books and articles. The easiest way for them to pull the pertinent information from these interviews is to have a written transcript to work from.

Radio and television shows conduct interviews from which they will pull various clips together to write a professionally polished program.

What is Transcription?

A transcription service is a business which converts speech (either live or recorded) into a written or electronic text document. Transcription services are often provided for business, legal, or medical purposes. The most common type of transcription is from a spoken-language source into text such as a computer file suitable for printing as a document such as a report. Common examples are the proceedings of a court hearing such as a criminal trial (by a court reporter) or a physician's recorded voice notes (medical transcription). Some transcription businesses can send staffs to events, speeches, or seminars, who then convert the spoken content into text. Some companies also accept recorded speech, either on cassette, CD, VHS, or as sound files.

Two methods of transcription:

•Dictation : One person dictating

•Interview : Two people or more

The time it takes to transcribe a recording depends on several factors:

- The speed at which the people are talking

- The number of people talking

- The clarity of the recording (background noise, phone interview)

- The clarity of the speaking voices (accents, mumbling)