Chapter 3 Smartbook Assignment

Which of the following would be the most likely cause of distraction for listeners of Stephen Hawking or Abraham Lincoln?

Appearance

Which of the following are recommended ways of resisting distractions while listening?

Comparing the speaker's message to what you anticipated the message would be Summarizing and making sense of what you just heard

Select all that apply Which of the following demonstrate jumping to conclusions when listening?

Deciding that a speech will be boring based on its title Deciding that a speaker's topic is not worth listening to Assuming that the speaker's views are misguided because of political-party affiliation

Select all that apply Useful tips for focusing your listening are to listen for which of the following?

Evidence Main points Technique

Select all that apply Which of the following are part of suspending judgment when listening?

Examining the speaker's evidence Trying to understand the speaker's ideas Assessing the speaker's reasoning

For the listener, which one of these is most likely to be a major source of interference in the speech communication process?

Focusing on a speaker's delivery and personal appearance

Charley saw a commercial with a muscular, well-dressed man using technical terminology to explain why a certain type of annuity is a great investment. Slender and without much of a clothing style, Charley felt compelled by the man in the commercial. He attended one of the man's seminars, was impressed by the man's fitness and style, invested in the annuity, and lost everything. What distracted Charley and caused him to make a bad investment?

He put too much credit in the speaker's appearance.

Select all that apply Unfortunately, focusing on a person's unique accent or manner of speaking can cause a listener to do which of the following?

Judge the speaker's intellect Judge the speaker's message unfairly Lose the point of the message

When business managers are asked to rank the communication skills that are most crucial to their jobs, which do they usually rank as number one?

Listening

Select all that apply What are the two main problems for note takers?

Not knowing what to listen for Not knowing how to record information

Which of the following is the least likely reason our thoughts wander when we are listening to speeches?

Our brains process words slowly.

Darius is giving a speech on the way vegetables can help fight disease. During the speech, most of his facts, which are derived from a variety of respected sources, deal mainly with how much farmland has been lost to development and how small farmers struggle to earn a living. What does his evidence lack?

Relevancy

Who of the following people gives Aaron the best advice about the way to become a better listener?

Someone who tells him to be serious about listening.

Select all that apply Which of the following are true about listening for technique?

Technique allows you to identify strategies that may work for you. The delivery technique should not take your focus away from the message. Analyzing and improving technique is necessary to become an effective speaker.

Linnea's speech teacher tells her that one way to keep from becoming distracted is to try to anticipate what the speaker will say next. Linnea's dad tells her that is terrible advice. Who is right, and why?

The teacher is right because it forces Linnea to listen.

Select all that apply Which of the following are true of good listening skills?

They are important in order to avoid repeating to others what you misunderstood someone say. They remain important in this information age in order to absorb information quickly and accurately. They are important in order to evaluate the messages of others effectively.

Select all that apply What are characteristics of focused, effective listeners?

They can identify a speaker's supporting evidence. They can detect a speaker's main points.

Select all that apply Which of the following are true when we listen too hard?

We are treating everything the speaker says as equally important. We are likely to miss the speaker's main point. We are trying to remember everything a speaker says. We are listening for too many details.

Whenever Peter listens to a speaker, he attempts to understand the speaker's point of view and makes an effort to not become distracted. This is an example of

active listening.

Samuel turns on the radio to listen to a modern reading of an old radio drama that he used to listen to when he was a child. Samuel is engaging in ______ listening.

appreciative

Identifying and improving your weaknesses as a listener demonstrates that you

are serious about listening.

If you listen too hard to a speaker, you are likely to

confuse the facts.

In the classroom, good listening skills

correlate with good grades.

Malinda is listening to a representative of a political action group who is trying to encourage him to make a donation. What type of listening is Malinda primarily doing in this case?

critical

Allison is a loader in a warehouse. When one of her fellow employees explains that she will be missing work for a few weeks because her mother is terminally ill, what is the primary type of listening that Allison is using?

empathic

The key-word outline method of note taking

focuses on main points and supporting evidence.

One component of active listening is

ignoring external distractions.

Detecting a speaker's main points

is relatively easy.

Select all that apply Listening for main ideas in a speech

is the most important listening objective. is seldom difficult. often yields results very early in a speech.

Select all that apply The four main causes of poor listening include

jumping to conclusions. focusing on delivery and personal appearance. failing to concentrate. listening too hard.

As Professor Yarberry speaks about mitosis, Garth finds himself thinking about fishing. This type of poor listening results from

lack of concentration.

Suspending judgment means a listener should

listen to and assess a speaker before passing judgment.

How do most people spend the bulk of their communication time?

listening

Evan is following a cooking demonstration. He carefully notes everything from the types of mixing bowls and utensils used to the brands of the ingredients that the chef is promoting. When he tries to replicate the recipe at home, he finds that he didn't record the ingredients. This is an example of

listening too hard.

One of the four main causes of poor listening is

listening too hard.

One recommended way to stay engaged in a speech is to

mentally review what has been said.

As Trent listens to a lecture, he begins drawing a tree. After a few minutes, he realizes he has drawn an entire landscape, but has no idea what the lecturer has said in the past ten minutes. Trent's poor listening was caused by

not concentrating.

Flora finds that she can process words much more quickly than her classmates can speak. This leads Flora to have poor listening caused by

not concentrating.

Mr. Steele is speaking to a group of accountants about new tax laws. He presents numerous verifiable facts dealing with tax laws. Some people realize that all his statistics come from extremely politically liberal publications that interpret all the facts in a similar way. Mr. Steele's evidence lacks

objectivity.

Good listening skills come from

practice and self-discipline.

For their public speaking class, John and Mia are required to attend a speech given by a visiting lecturer on campus. The lecture topic is "Improving Your Study Habits." Since John and Mia are both seniors about to graduate, they roll their eyes and grudgingly attend the presentation. As potential listeners, John and Mia are guilty of

prematurely rejecting the topic as lacking value.

A speaker's evidence should always be

relevant.

Poor listening often occurs because the brain has

spare time to think about other things.

Analyzing the speaker's attention-getters and language are both methods of listening for

technique

Ricardo is listening to Janelle's speech. As Janelle talks, Ricardo evaluates her use of language, gestures, and visual aids. Ricardo is listening for

technique.

Which factor in Avery's life would likely be the most important for him to become a good listener?

that he identifies his poor listening habits and works to change them

The most useful way to take notes for most students is

the key-word outline.

In any speech, it is most important to listen for

the main points.

Most speeches contain ______ main point(s).

two to four

Resisting distractions while listening is difficult because

we think much faster than a speaker can talk.

People who listen effectively

work at listening.