Individual Essay

Question 3: Sometimes our self gets in the way of effective listening. Explain the concepts of egocentrism, defensiveness, experiential superiority, and personal bias by telling how each obstructs effective listening.

Effective Public Communication (FCOM 0102) Individual ssi!nment: Essa"#

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F*+E ,-./ 2013 0 FCOM 0102 Effective Public Communication

Ed$a%d C&en! Mun 'it (0313()))

Question 3: Sometimes our self gets in the way of effective listening. Explain the concepts of egocentrism, defensiveness, experiential superiority, and personal bias by telling how each obstructs effective listening.

Listening, an important key to success communication and one of the primary ways in which we discover others, enrich our relationship and broaden our knowledge. The first step in learning about listening is to understand the distinction between hearing and listening. Hearing is simply the act of receiving sound. ou can close your eyes to

avoid seeing, cover your nose to avoid smelling, and shrink away to avoid touch, but your ears have no flaps to cover them. Their structure suggested that for your own protection, your ears should never be closed, even when you sleep. !ecause you cannot close your ears, you receive and hear sounds constantly. However, hearing is not the same as listening. Listening is defined by the "nternational Listening #ssociation $"L#% as the active process of receiving, constructing meaning from, and responding to spoken and& or nonverbal messages "t involves the ability to retain information, as well as to react empathically and&or appreciatively to spoken and&or nonverbal messages. $#n "L# 'efinition of Listening, ()**,p.(% Thus, listening involves more than simply hearing and it is clearly an essential skill for effective communicators. There are some types of barrier created by the listener in the listening process, which are egocentrism, defensiveness, experiential superiority, and personal bias. Egocentrism is defined as excessive self+focus, or seeing yourself as the central concern in every conversation. Listening is important but there may be someone not prepare for effective listening. There are some types of barrier created by the listener in the listening process. ,o matter how much we like to think that we can understand
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things from another person-s point of view, we really cannot. "f the listener understands language from their own perspective, without much consideration for the mental state of the speaker except when they need to correct an error, could be a systematic cause of misunderstanding and miscommunication. Egocentric people are unable to fully understand or to cope with other people.s opinions and the fact that reality can be different from what they are ready to accept. ,ext, defensiveness is acting threatened and feeling like you must defend what you have said or done. /or example, the people will assume other-s comment is veiled criticism of him. . Listening is one of the most effective tools of communication0 right next to speaking that is. However, if you don-t listen to everything the person is saying or if you don-t clarify what the other person in the conversation is saying you may not get the full meaning of what they are saying. 1ne of the surest effects of indirect communication is defensiveness. #s there is an implied threat behind a great deal of indirect communication, people tend to become wary when faced with it. Their need to defend themselves only widens the gap of effective communication even further. Effective listening is challenging, in part, because people often are more focused on what they.re saying than on what they.re hearing in return. 2ust due to the fact that everybody has an ego. Everybody will experience experiential superiority whether it is a professor, parents, or a peer. /or instance, it may be enlightening to a student to listen to a lecture on organi3ational conflict0 however, when it is encountered in the team play of a simulation game and there is no one with the authority to reconcile the opposing views, the messiness associated with organi3ational conflict becomes very real.
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Everybody experiences it when he start blocking somebody out because he think he know more than they do, and it.s 4ust a waste of his time to listen to them. "f the people created such a barrier, he will look down on others as if their experience with life not as good as himself. He will not listen to what they said or advice due to their less experience. The last but not least, effective listening also depends upon the ability to identify and understand specifically what others are saying. 5any individuals have the tendency to pre4udge issues and concerns or make false assumptions about various situations and problems surrounding needs and concerns based upon a personal bias. 6ersonal bias means that you are pre4udiced against or believe someone for some reason. "t might be that you.re putting that person into a particular family, social class, stereotype or racial group. #ccording to the explanation in Human 7ommunication fifth edition, personal bias is letting your own predispositions, or strongly held beliefs, interfere with your ability to interpret information correctly. The good example can be illustrate here is when you assuming that people are generally truthful. #fter all, the potential barriers are many. /ortunately, each of us can take several steps to overcome these barriers to good listening. Effective listening, much like effective speaking and effective writing, is a skill that one develops through life. ,o magic list of behaviors can help an ineffective listener become a listening expert overnight. Effective listening involves more than simply hearing and it is clearly an essential skill for effective communicators and there are some types of barrier that can obstruct effective listening, which are egocentrism, defensiveness, experiential
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superiority, and personal bias. Thus, there are three key categories of skills that each of us should monitor and improve upon to become effective and ethical listeners which are listen and think critically, use verbal and nonverbal communication effectively and check your understanding. $8)9 words%

Reference ist:
F*+E ,-./ 2013 0 FCOM 0102 Effective Public Communication Ed$a%d C&en! Mun 'it (0313()))

'e:ito. 2oseph #. $()))% Essential of Human 7ommunication, $9 rd ed.% ;nited States< #ddison =esley Longman. 'e:ito. 2oseph #. $>??@% The "nterpersonal 7ommunication !ook, $8 th ed.% ;nited States< 6earson. 6earson,7.6., ,elson,E.,., Scott,T., Harter,H. $>?(9% Human 7ommunication, $* th ed.% ,ew ork< 5cAraw Hill. 6erson.2, ,elson.6, Titsworth.S, Harter.L. $>??B% Human 7ommunication $> nd ed.% ,ew ork< 5cAraw Hill.

F*+E ,-./ 2013 0 FCOM 0102 Effective Public Communication

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