9 types of listening: how to be a better communicator

You can’t overstate the importance of listening. While learning to communicate verbally is essential, being a good listener and using different types of listening skills is just as crucial for effective interpersonal communication. 

Not only can listening skills help you interpret information on different levels, but they can also aid in building productive relationships with others by breaking down communication barriers. Active listening also requires paying attention to the speaker’s facial expressions, nonverbal cues, and emotions. That’s because being a good listener goes deeper than just hearing what someone is saying. Active listening is about seeking to understand the meaning and intent behind the words.  

Learning about different types of listening in communication can make you a better listener, help jump-start your career, and improve other areas of your life.

9 types of listening skills

The following nine types of listening skills can help you build more effective communication in relationships: 

1. Informational listening
2. Discriminative listening
3. Selective listening
4. Sympathetic listening
5. Comprehensive listening
6. Empathetic listening
7. Critical listening
8. Reflective listening
9. Appreciative listening

1. Informational listening

When you want to learn a new concept, you need to use informational listening to comprehend and retain information. This type of listening generally requires you to increase your attention span and apply focus and concentration skills. To learn something new, you must also use critical thinking skills to understand what you’re learning within the context of relevant information.

Some examples of situations using informational listening include:

• Coaching
• Work training
• Self-directed learning at home or work
• Listening to an educational ebook

When you improve your informational listening skills, you empower yourself to become a better learner. Enhancing informational listening can also help you build confidence and achieve your career goals.

2. Discriminative listening

Discriminative listening is a type of listening that you’re born with and can improve over time. Instead of relying on words, discriminative listening focuses on tone of voice, verbal cues, body language, and other nuances.

Babies are discriminative listeners because they can understand the intention of what is said before they can comprehend words. For example, if someone speaks to them in a silly and joyful tone of voice, they generally smile and laugh back. This type of listening also helps them recognize different voices, so they know who is speaking.

But babies aren’t the only discriminative listeners. You use discriminative listening skills when listening to a conversation in a foreign language. This listening style allows you to analyze tone and inflection to help bridge the communication gap.

You can also use nonverbal cues to listen and understand more effectively. For instance, a speaker’s facial expressions, body language, and eye contact can reveal a lot about the meaning of their message. When you’re in a critical negotiation or work conversation, this active listening skill can help you read between the lines. 

For example, say you ask one of your colleagues if they agree with a certain decision. Even though they say yes, you can tell from their eye contact and body language during your conversation that something is wrong. 

Using your discriminative listening skills, you pick up on these nonverbal cues and ask them if they’re sure or if there are any changes they’d like to make.

3. Selective listening

Selective listening, also known as biased listening, is listening only for information you want to hear. Selective listening can happen consciously or unconsciously and lead to unintentional misunderstandings or biased decision making. 

Imagine you are leading a team meeting to discuss a series of new projects. You unconsciously assign the most challenging high-profile assignments to those who work in the office assuming they are more ambitious and committed to their roles. That’s an example of proximity bias because you are biased toward the on-site workers that you see daily. 

In another conversation, you ask your team for input on a new product launch and find yourself biased toward those whose opinions confirm what you already believe. That’s an example of confirmation bias because you favor the views of people who share your perspective.  

4. Sympathetic listening 

Emotion is a strong driver of sympathetic listening. Instead of primarily focusing on the speaker’s words, the listener focuses on the emotions of the speaker so they can interpret what is being said without judging or interrupting.

By using sympathetic listening, you attempt to provide the support the speaker needs. You understand how they’re really feeling and are able to establish a deep connection.

The goal is for the speaker to feel heard and validated when you take the time to pay attention in this way. Sympathetic listening is crucial if you want to create meaningful conversations.

Say you run into a work colleague at the grocery store and start up a conversation. They seem upset, so you use sympathetic listening to identify their underlying feelings and emotions. In doing so, you realize how frustrated they are about the lack of appreciation they are getting at work. You decide to practice passive listening by not interrupting or forming judgments. Instead, you pay attention to their words and nonverbal cues. Your choice to talk less and listen more helps you interpret their emotions and end the conversation by making them feel heard.

5. Comprehensive listening 

Comprehensive listening is similar to discriminative listening in that it is a skill you develop in early childhood. However, unlike discriminative listening, this type of listening requires language skills and is not an innate ability. Instead, you learn basic language and vocabulary skills early in life and continue developing those abilities over time.

You use comprehensive listening to understand the meaning of a message through words. Several other types of listening in communication build on this listening style. For example, you need to use comprehensive listening to leverage informational listening to learn new things. At home and work, you must use a combination of comprehensive and discriminative listening to understand the messages people are communicating.

For example, imagine your colleague is briefing you on a project. To analyze and understand their message, you need to use comprehensive listening. Once you complete the project, you use comprehensive listening when receiving feedback on your efforts.

6. Empathetic listening

Empathetic listening, also known as empathic listening or therapeutic listening, helps you understand other people’s perspectives and visualize yourself in their shoes. Instead of just focusing on the conversation, you use therapeutic listening to relate to a speaker’s experiences as if they were your own.

Though similar, empathetic listening is different from sympathetic listening. With sympathetic listening, you aim to understand a person’s feelings and emotions to provide support. Empathetic listening goes a step further by allowing the listener to relate to the speaker’s experience as if it were their own. 

Say your boss just announced that this week’s company outing is canceled due to budget cuts. By using empathetic listening, you can hear how much pressure upper management is putting on your boss to control costs. Yet, you also recognize that there’s pressure from employees since they were looking forward to a team-building exercise. By employing empathetic listening, instead of getting emotional, you understand why your manager made this decision because you can imagine what it’s like to be in their situation.

7. Critical listening 

Analyzing complex information requires critical listening, which goes beyond simply decoding a message using comprehensive listening. As a critical listener, you apply your knowledge and experience to understand the speaker’s message within a broader context.

Critical listening is essential when problem-solving at work. For example, you’d use this type of listening when determining how to handle an unusual and complex client request. You also use critical listening to analyze solutions offered by others so you can decide if you agree or disagree. 

8. Reflective listening 

Reflective listening is a communication style used to actively demonstrate that you hear, understand, and process the speaker’s message. Then you communicate the information back to them to confirm it was understood correctly. 

The main elements of reflective listening are as follows: 

• Focus on hearing the speaker’s message
• Analyze the meaning of what was said
• Repeat or paraphrase the message
• Confirm that you properly understood

By clarifying what you heard, reflective listening reduces misunderstandings and leads to more productive conversations.

For example, let’s say your coworker expressed anger over not being invited to an important office meeting. You would engage and listen attentively, interpret the information you hear, and then reflect the message back by saying, “It’s understandable that you feel angry about being left out of the meeting. What can I do to help?”

9. Appreciative listening 

Appreciative listening focuses on listening for pleasure. It is subjective and centered around your thoughts and emotions. Appreciative listening can even benefit your health and well-being. One example of appreciative listening is music.

In a study published in the journal Cureus, listening to classical music led to lower blood pressure and heart rates as well as improved mood. In addition to music, other examples of appreciative listening include listening to podcasts, speeches, and guided meditation. 

Let’s say you’re driving to work listening to your favorite song on the radio. You’re using appreciative listening as you derive pleasure from actively immersing yourself in the musical experience.

Tips to improve your listening skills

To become a better listener, it’s helpful to master as many types of listening skills as possible. Whether it’s a specific type like critical listening or simply learning more about active listening in general, the following tips will help boost your communication abilities at home and in the office.  

• Focus on nonverbal cues: Pay attention to the speaker’s facial expressions and body language.
• Avoid interrupting the speaker: Be patient and let the speaker finish delivering their message.
• Ask open-ended questions: Ask questions when the speaker is finished to show that you are paying attention, engaged, and interested in learning more about them.
• Try not to judge: Show empathy for the speaker and keep an open mind without judgments or biases.
• Maintain eye contact: Provide eye contact to show the speaker you are an engaged listener.

Why is listening so important in life and at work? 

Listening is a critical component of strong communication skills. To truly comprehend what someone is saying, you need to be fully present and paying attention. Active listening techniques keep you engaged while making the speaker feel valued and heard. The key to active listening is being patient and accepting of others in a conversation. That way, you build trust while helping the speaker feel emotionally supported. 

Without listening skills or critical listening, it’s easy to miss details or verbal cues, make assumptions, and misjudge what someone is saying. However, when you practice active listening, you benefit from an increased awareness of a speaker’s emotions and nonverbal cues. Listening also allows you to actively deliver substantial and meaningful responses when you have a conversation. If something is confusing, you can ask questions to clarify what you heard. 

Interpersonal communication is also a critical soft skill at work. According to LinkedIn’s 2019 Global Talent Trends report, 92% of talent professionals say that soft skills matter as much or more than hard skills. Listening is also vital for productive collaboration. The same report states collaboration is the third most important soft skill companies need. When you actively listen or practice critical listening, you avoid misunderstandings and are able to provide your coworkers with thoughtful feedback and teamwork.

Learn all types of listening to improve your life and work

One type of listening isn’t better than another. Instead, these types of listening skills work together to help you better understand the verbal and nonverbal messages you receive. Being a better listener and regularly engaging in active listening allows you to communicate effectively, avoid biases, and assimilate information more easily.

If you’re struggling to engage and become an active listener, you’re not alone. A coach can help you with these skills to benefit all areas of your life. 

Improve all types of listening with the help of a BetterUp Coach to enhance your emotional intelligence and strengthen your relationships.