Listening and Communication

Listening is an ability to accurately receive and interpret message. In other words, a perfect listening is one where nothing is lost in a communication between a speaker and a receiver. The speaker’s words, activates the prefrontal cortex of our brain as the listener continuously vet the incoming information against what (s)he knows, his or her past experiences and theoretical construct of the future. According to Andy Clark, professor at the School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences at Edinburgh University,  “the human brain is deploying a fundamental, thrifty, prediction-based strategy that husbands neural resources and, as a direct result, delivers perceiving, understanding and imagining in a single package”. If this is true, it would need a wilful override of the brain’s preferred mode of operation to actively listen without allowing any contamination with the receiver’s own perceptions, experience and imagination.  

An effective listening has other dimensions too.  Though it engages the auditory senses primarily, it does demand an attempt to decode and interpret non-verbal cues, like tone of voice, facial expressions, and physical posture. Neurological research shows that human brains process auditory information much faster than visual cues. All put together listening and staying true to the communication becomes challenging. 

While the speaker needs to sharpen his skills to speak, the listener needs to override all potential distractions and stay engaged to make a communication complete. Our auditory processes are sensitive to different frequencies and each frequency are received by a dedicated section of the sensory organ mapped to the primary auditory cortex of the brain. Theories on selected attention are still being debated but they do indicate that our brain and its neurological processes uses sensory registers and filters and decides to attend or not attend to stimuli that it receives. 

Theatre uses auditory and visual cues to express emotions, feelings, thoughts and engages the audience. The co-actors in theatre would also interact and to make it true and real to the audience they would need to listen or choose not to listen depending on the situation. In other words, both speaking and listening are rehearsed as the actors prepare for an act. 

Theatrical techniques are applied in behavioural learning making the participants deeply aware of the attributes that drive listening and communicating. In this process it enhances a person’s ability to speak and listen. The participants experience in a non-threatening environment through simulated situations and content in a well facilitated process that is supported by interactive sessions, deep diving into their subtle but important aspects.