LISTENING

WHY LISTEN?
What is the importance of listening?
What is the relationship between listening and
speaking/communication?
IMPORTANCE OF
LISTENING
50% of our time is spent listening
90% of our time as students is spent listening
IMPORTANCE OF
LISTENING
"Hearing is good and speaking is good; but s/he who
hears is a possessor of benefits."
"Know how to listen and you will profit even from
those who talk badly."
IMPORTANCE OF
LISTENING
Nature has given men one tongue but two ears, that
we may hear from others twice as much as we speak."
"Hearing is a natural process; listening is a skill."
COMMON BAD LISTENING
HABITS
Being distracted by the speaker's appearance or
delivery.
+ Concentrate on what is being said.
COMMON BAD LISTENING
HABITS
Deciding the topic is boring.
There is no uninteresting topic/subject, only a person
who is not interested.
+ Give the speaker and the topic a chance. Develop
this attitude: "I may as well listen since I'm already
here."
COMMON BAD LISTENING
HABITS
Faking attention
"I've heard it all before" attitude
+ Be honest. If you don't have time to listen, tell the
other person. Or prepare to listen.
COMMON BAD LISTENING
HABITS
Looking for distractions.
Observing others instead of the speaker or what s/he
is saying.
+ Concentrate. Have the will power to listen.
COMMON BAD LISTENING
HABITS
Over concentrating on unimportant facts.
+ Look for the main point of the speaker. Note the
supporting facts.
COMMON BAD LISTENING
HABITS
Reacting emotionally to "trigger words."
Trigger words -- those that cause an emotional
reaction of some kind, may be positive or negative.
+ Focus on the speaker or the topic.
SOME THOUGHTS...
"I can't help hearing but I don't always listen."
"Congress is strange. A man gets up to speak and says
nothing. Nobody listens and then everybody
disagrees."
LISTENING
The process of receiving, constructing meaning from,
and responding to spoken and/or nonverbal
messages.
Listening Modes:
COMBATIVE, REFLECTIVE, ATTENTIVE
LISTENING
A 5-step process which includes
Attending
Understanding
Evaluating
Remembering
Responding
to the messages we heard
ATTENDING
The perceptual process of selecting a specific stimuli
from the countless stimuli reaching the senses.
How to select some sounds to bring to the foreground
while keeping the others in the background.
IMPROVING ATTENDING
SKILLS:
Get ready to listen.
Adjust your attention to the listening goals of the situation.
Make the shift from speaker to listener a complete one.
Hear a person out before you react.
Analyze, and, if possible, eliminate physical impediments
to listening.
UNDERSTANDING
The ability to decode a message by correctly
assigning a meaning to it.
Active listening or thinking faster than a speaker can
talk.
IMPROVING
UNDERSTANDING SKILLS:
Look for or create an organization for the information.
Pay attention to nonverbal cues.
Silently paraphrase to help you understand.
* Paraphrase is a statement in your own words of the
meaning you assign to a message.
When you don't understand, ask for explanation.
EVALUATING
Consists of critically analyzing the message to
determine how truthful, authentic, or believable you
judge it to be.
2 aspects of critical listening:
Separating facts from inferences.
Evaluating the inferences that have been made.
REMEMBERING
Retaining information
Techniques:
Rehearsal
Recognition of patterns
Mnemonic device is any artificial technique used as a memory aid.
Regrouping material
Note-taking
GENDER AND LISTENING
WOMEN MEN
Are interested in relationships
and networking
Are more interested in
competitive communication
Are more likely to be listeners
Talk and hold the center of
attention because of status
Smile and wait for their turn to
talk
Jump into the discussion when
they have something to say