1. Sensory Perception: It starts with the physical process of sound waves reaching your ears and being converted into electrical signals that your brain interprets.
2. Attention and Focus: You must direct your attention to the speaker and filter out distractions. This requires conscious effort and the ability to focus your mental resources.
3. Comprehension: This is where the real mental work begins. You need to decode the spoken language, including understanding the speaker's words, tone, and body language. This involves:
* Working memory: Holding the information received in short-term memory to process it.
* Language processing: Decoding the sounds, analyzing grammar, and understanding the meaning of words and phrases.
* Prior knowledge: Drawing upon existing knowledge, experiences, and beliefs to interpret the speaker's message.
4. Interpretation and Analysis: You go beyond simply understanding the words to interpret the speaker's intent, emotions, and underlying message. This involves:
* Inferencing: Filling in missing information based on context and prior knowledge.
* Critical thinking: Evaluating the information, identifying biases, and forming your own opinions.
5. Remembering and Retention: Good listeners can retain information and recall it later. This involves:
* Encoding: Transferring the information from short-term to long-term memory.
* Retrieval: Recalling the information when needed.
6. Emotional Response: Listening often evokes emotional responses. You might feel empathy, agreement, disagreement, or other emotions depending on the content and delivery.
7. Feedback and Response: Active listening often includes providing feedback, whether verbally or nonverbally, to show the speaker that you are engaged and understanding. This can involve:
* Summarizing: Restating key points to ensure understanding.
* Asking clarifying questions: Seeking further information to ensure you comprehend the message fully.
Therefore, listening is far more than just hearing. It's a mental process that requires active engagement, cognitive effort, and a range of mental skills to effectively receive and process information.