Chapter 3: Listening

Appreciative Listening

• Listening for pleasure or enjoyment ◦ Listening to music or a comedy routine

Effective Listening

• Listening is an important job skill ◦ Effective listeners hold higher positions and are promoted more often than poor listeners ◦ Listening is ranked as most important job skill ◦ Listening training provided for employees ◦ 60% of errors made in businesses come from poor listening • Listening is also an important academic skill ◦ Almost 90% of class time in American colleges/universities is spent listening ◦ Students who excel/have the highest grades are usually those with the strongest listening skills

Critical Listening

• Listening to evaluate a message for purposes of accepting or rejecting it ◦ Listening to a sales pitch ◦ Listening to a campaign speech

Empathic Listening

• Listening to provide emotional support for the speaker ◦ A counselor practices empathic listening ◦ Friends practice empathic listening when they discuss something with a person in distress

Comprehensive Listening

• Listening to understand the message of a speaker ◦ Listening to a classroom lecture ◦ Getting directions to somewhere

Four Causes of Poor Listening

• Not concentrating • Listening too hard • Jumping to conclusions • Focusing on delivery and personal appearance

Listening Skills

• People are in general poor listeners ◦ Research shows that most people only understand about half of what they hear ◦ After 24 hours, most people only remember 10% of the original message

Develop Note-taking Skills

• Research shows that taking notes enhances listening • Be careful of note-taking weaknesses: ◦ Don't try to write down every word ◦ Don't concentrate only on fascinating tidbits of information • Develop good note-taking habits: ◦ Concentrate on a speaker's main ideas and supporting materials ◦ Use keyword outlines to summarize the speaker's message

Don't be Diverted by Appearance or Delivery

• Set aside preconceived negative judgments about a speaker's looks or manner of speech • Do not be captivated by a speaker's attractive appearance or hypnotic delivery skills

Not Concentrating

• Spare "Brain Time" ◦ Talk (120 to 150 words a minute) ◦ Brain can process language (400 to 800 words a minute) ◦ Extra "brain time" causes listener distraction • Listeners must force themselves to concentrate on a speaker's message

Types of Listening

• Appreciative Listening • Empathic Listening • Comprehensive Listening • Critical Listening

How to Become a Better Listener

• Take listening seriously • Become an active listener • Resist distractions • Don't be diverted by appearance or delivery • Suspend judgment • Focus your listening • Develop note-taking skills

Hearing Vs. Listening

Hearing • The vibration of sound waves on the eardrums and the firing of electrochemical impulses in the brain Listening • Paying close attention to, and making sense of, what we hear

Focus your Listening

• Focus on a speaker's main points • Focus on the quality of a speaker's evidence: ◦ Is the evidence accurate? ◦ Does evidence come from objective sources? ◦ Is evidence relevant to the speaker's claims? ◦ Is there sufficient evidence to support the speaker's claims? • Focus on speaking techniques you can use in your own speeches: ◦ Analyze the effectiveness of the introduction ◦ Assess the organization of the speech ◦ Study the speaker's use of language ◦ Evaluate the speaker's delivery

Become an Active Listener

• Give your undivided attention to the speaker in a genuine effort to understand the point of view • Do not allow yourself to be distracted by internal or external interference (especially your cell phone!) • Do not prejudge the speaker

Take Listening Seriously

• Good listening is a skill that demands practice and self-discipline • You can become a better listener by working to improve listening skills

Focusing on Delivery and Personal Appearance

• Listeners can be so put off by personal appearance, accents, or unusual vocal mannerisms that they do not bother to listen ◦ Think about ethics...

Jumping to Conclusions

• Listeners jump to conclusions in two ways: ◦ Assume that they know what someone is going to say before that person actually speaks ◦ Prematurely reject a speaker's ideas as boring or misguided without hearing the entire message

Suspend Judgment

• Suspend judgment until hearing a speaker's full message • Realize that you will hear things that you do not disagree with, but make an effort not to reject a speaker's ideas until the entire message is conveyed • Assess a speaker's evidence and reasoning before making a judgment

Listening too Hard

• Trying to remember every detail or concentrating too hard on certain aspects of the message • Listening too hard can cause a listener to often miss the speaker's main points

Effective Listening and Public Speaking

• You can get speech ideas by listening to lectures, television, movies, or the radio • Listening to good speeches is an excellent way to improve your own speaking skills ◦ Take what you like or dislike about someone else's speech and use it in or delete it from your own speech