Module 7: Listening Effectively

The Active Listening Process

1. Attending: process of willfully striving to perceive selected sounds that are being heard Guidelines to improve Attending - Get physically and mentally ready to attend - Make the shift from speaker to listener a complete one - Stay tuned in 2. Understanding: process of accurately decoding a message so you comprehend the semantic, pragmatic, and sociolinguistic meaning of a message Guidelines to Improve understanding - Identify the speaker's purpose and key points - Interpret nonverbal cues - Ask clarifying questions (response designed to get further information or to remove uncertainty from information already received) (be specific, sincere tone, limit or explain that you need questions, "burden of ignorance") - Paraphrase (attempt to verify your understanding of a message by putting it into your own words and sharing it with the speaker) what you hear; content paraphrase: conveys your understanding of the denotative meaning of a verbal message; feelings paraphrase: conveys understanding of the emotional meaning behind a speaker's verbal message 3. Remembering: process of moving info from short-term memory to long-term memory - Primacy effect: tendency to remember information that we heard first over what we heard in the middle - recency effect: tendency to remember info that we heard last over what we heard in the middle Guidelines for improving: - Repeat what was said - create mnemonics: learning technique that associates a special word or short statement with new and longer info - Take notes 4. Evaluating: the process of determining how truthful, authentic, or believable you judge the message and the speaker to be guidelines for improving: - Separate facts (statements whose accuracy can be verified or proven) from inferences (claims or assertions based on the facts presented) - Probe for info; probing questions: questions that search for more info or try to resolve perceived inconsistencies in a message 5. Responding: process of providing feedback to your partner's message guidelines for improving: - Provide back-channel cues: verbal and nonverbal signals that indicate you are listening and attempting to understand the message - Reply only when the message is complete -Respond to the previous message before changing the subject

Digital Listening Skills

Digital communication literacy: ability to critically attend to, analyze, evaluate, and express digital messages 1. Attending to and Understanding Digital Messages - who/what you respond first and last to will convey messages about the value you place on those relationships - isn't as rich as face to face, therefore you should not jump to conclusions or text when your overly emotional (angry, sad, happy, etc.) 2. Critically Evaluating Digital Messages - some ppl intentionally share misinformation - computer hackers spread viruses - info that are "facts" are really urban legend (stories that may have a basis in fact, but are told grossly or partially inaccurate)

Challenges to Effective Listening

Listening: the process of receiving, constructing meaning from, and responding to spoken and/or nonverbal messages 1. Personal Styles of Listening - Listening style: your favored but usually unconscious approach to attending to your partner's messages 4 listening styles - Relational: focuses on what a message tells us about out conversational partners and their feelings - Analytical: focus on gathering info and thinking carefully about what is said - Transactional: prefers speakers who remain on task and "get to the point" - Critical: focuses attention on the accuracy and consistency of speakers' messages 2. Listening Apprehension: the anxiety we feel about listening that interferes with our ability to be effective listeners - Fear of misunderstanding the message, not being able to understand the message, or how we are affected psychologically by the message 3. Dual Processes in Listening - Passive listening: the effortless, thoughtless, and habitual process of receiving the messages we hear (automatic) - Active Listening: skillful, intentional, deliberate, conscious process of attending to, understanding, remembering, critically evaluating, and responding to messages we hear