LISTENING

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LISTENING
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GOALS

• Name and analyze factors that affect listening.
• Identify skills for critical and active
  listening.
• List and explain types of faulty reasoning.
• Explain what is meant by propaganda.
• Identify the most commonly used propaganda
  techniques.
• Evaluate speaking with an oral and written
  critique.

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Understanding Human Communication

• The most common misconceptions about listening.
• The five components of the listening process.
• The most common types of ineffective listening.
• The challenges that make effective listening
  difficult.
• The skills necessary to listen effectively in
  informational and critical settings.

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After This Chapter

• You should be able to
• Identify situations where you listen
  ineffectively and explain the reasons for your
  lack of effectiveness.
• Identify the consequences of your ineffective
  listening.
• Follow the guidelines for informational
  listening.
• Analyze an argument or claim by evaluating the
  credibility of its proponent, the quality of
  evidence offered, and the soundness of its
  reasoning.

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Chapter Highlights

• Most people need to think about listening in a
  new way.
• Theres a difference between hearing and
  listening.

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LISTENING
Hearing and listening are often confused Hearing
Sound going in your ear
Listening
understanding and interpreting the sound in a
meaningful way.
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Why is Listening Important?

• A great deal of our time is spent listening
• 80 of each day engaged communicating
• 50 of our communication time generally in a
  listening role
• for students, time spent listening in class is
  90
• 53 of college students time is spent in
  listening activities
• 60 of employees time in major corporations is
  spent in listening to others (Adler Towne,
  1993)
• A critical factor in the accomplishment of
  personal and professional goals.

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Why Learn to Listen?
85 of individuals rate themselves as average or
worse listeners Statistics show that the average
person misses about 75 of what he/she hears.
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studies show that most people fail to listen
well

•        An average person retains one-half of
  what he/she hears after a 10 minute presentation
•        Two days later half the information is
  forgotten, meaning the average person retains
  one-fourth of what he/she heard (Atwater, 1986)
•        In a study of college age students
• o      20 listened to and 12 retained what
  professor said
• o      20 (both male female) were thinking
  thoughts about the opposite sex
• o      20 were reminiscing
• o      The others were daydreaming, thinking
  about lunch, worrying, or thinking about religion.

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Importance of Listening, cont.

• In structured and public contexts, effective
  listening is essential
• Effective listeners hold higher positions and are
  promoted more often.
• Business managers rank listening as the
  communication skill most crucial to their jobs.
• Students with the highest grades are usually
  those with the strongest listening skills.

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Hearing vs. Listening
Listening isnt a natural ability, and it takes
effort and practice to do well. Its probable
that people will hear the same message in
different ways. Listening CAN be developed at any
time. Major difference is how well the listener
is concentrating on what is being said-- the
level of the listeners involvement.
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Listening
Todays fast-paced world has not helped develop
longer attention spans MTV Surfing the
Net Video games Fast commercials
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Why learn to listen?
You will avoid misunderstandings.
You will get along better with others (develop
goodwill).
You will learn more information about the world.
You will be more successful in school and on the
job.
You will learn to evaluate and create opinions
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• Two approaches can help you become a better
  listener
• Minimize faulty listening behaviors
• Understand some of the reasons you listen poorly

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Barriers to Listening
--Distractions
--Daydreaming and/or thinking about what you
want to say
the average speaker articulates at a rate of
about 120 -180 words per minute. Listeners can
understand just as well when the rate is 380-500.
--Close mindedness/bias education, age,
religion, morals, physical condition, etc.
--Overemphasizing the source
--Listening only to what is easy to understand
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• Faulty Listening Behaviors
• Pseudolistening (an imitation of the real thing.
  Pseudolisteners give the appearance of being
  attentive they look you in the eye, nod at the
  right times, and even may answer you
  occasionally)
• Selective listening (We screen out the parts that
  don't interest us.  We reject communication that
  bores us or makes us uncomfortable)

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• Faulty Listening Behaviors
• 3. defensive listening (Perceiving personal
  attacks, criticims, or hostile undertones in
  communication where none is intended)
• Ambushing (Listening carefully for the purpose of
  attacking the other speaker )
• Stage hogging (another barrier to listening,
  occurs when one person is much too busy talking
  to do any listening )

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WHY WE DONT LISTEN!
MESSAGE OVERLOAD HEARING
PROBLEMS FAULTY ASSUMPTIONS LACK OF
TRAINING PREOCCUPATION RAPID
THOUGHT EFFORT EXTERNAL NOISE LACK OF
APPARENT ADVANTAGES
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Strategies to Become an Active Listener

• Show interest and be sincere
• Ask questions if you dont understand completely
• Avoid distractions
• Use direct eye contact
• Do not interrupt
• Read both the verbal and nonverbal messages
• Be empathetic

• Paraphrase to correct misinterpretations
• Evaluate the message after hearing all the facts
• Concentrate on the message as well as the
  messenger
• Give feedback
• Listen with your entire body
• Dont talk so much

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• Becoming an Active Listener
• Prepare to listen (bring a sweater, sit up
  straight, sit close to speaker, bring paper for
  notes, rest)

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Becoming an Active Listener
Prepare to listen

• Apply the message to yourself
• Relate the information to your personal
  experiences
• Use your own knowledge to understand new
  information
• Imagine yourself using the information in the
  future

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Becoming an Active Listener
Prepare to listen Apply the message to yourself

• Think critically as you listen.
• Summarize and review throughout the presentation.
• Start thinking of questions you want to ask
  later.
• Predict the speakers direction, but avoid
  jumping to conclusions.
• Keep an open mind.
• Listen for propaganda and faulty reasoning.
• Listen for signal devices and repetition (first,
  next)

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• Examine speakers evidence and reasoning
• Is the evidence recent enough?
• It enough evidence presented?
• Is the evidence from a reliable source?
• Can the evidence be interpreted in more than one
  way?

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Examine appeals and look for logical fallacies
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Logical Fallacies and Propaganda

• http//www.mc.cc.md.us/Departments/enreadtp/Errors
  _Propaganda.pdfsearch'card20stacking20logical
  20fallacy'

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Becoming an Active Listener
Prepare to listen Apply the message to
yourself Think critically as you listen.

• Use associations and mnemonic devices to remember
  important details.
• Association vivid mental image to help
  remember.
• Mnemonic device rhyme, acronym, or other
  wordplay. (arithmetic)

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Use Mnemonic Devices --Alphabetize --Visualize --P
ut to song
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Make a Wal-Mart List. Be specific.Include ten
items around the store.

• Prairie Farms skim milk
• White Hanes socks, size medium
• Doritos chips, regular flavor
• Journeys newest CD
• Old Roy dog food, large bag
• Old Spice after-shave, original scent
• Crest toothpaste, Mint and Green Tea Extract
  flavor
• Small bag of chocolate Tootsie Rolls
• Sponge Bob vitamins
• Fix a flat

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Becoming an Active Listener
Prepare to listen Apply the message to
yourself Think critically as you listen. Use
associations and mnemonic devices to remember
important details.

• Take notes.
• Do not write every detail verbatim. Focus on key
  phrases.
• Develop consistent method to use.

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Becoming an Active Listener
Prepare to listen Apply the message to
yourself Think critically as you listen. Use
associations and mnemonic devices to remember
important details. Take notes.

• Give the speakerand yourselffeedback.
• Use body language such as eye contact and a nod
• Upright posture, leaning forward a bit

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Becoming an Active Listener
Prepare to listen Apply the message to
yourself Think critically as you listen. Use
associations and mnemonic devices to remember
important details. Take notes. Give the
speakerand yourselffeedback.

• Adjust to the environment.
• Choose position in room, if possible
• Adjust temperature and lighting if possible
• Block out noises or other interference as
  possible
• Bring jacket for comfort

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A good listener will. . .
Ask for more information if needed Would
you say that again? I dont understand
what you mean. Could you be more specific?
Paraphrase the message What I hear you
saying is. . . Correct me if Im wrong,
but. . . In other words, youre saying. .
.
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As a critical, active listener, you may be called
upon to give a critique.
Valuable as everyone in class profits. Valuable
because class can see what went right and
wrong. Valuable for improving speaking abilities.
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• How to Give an Oral Critique
• Give positive feedback.
• Do it first.
• Gives speaker something to build on in next
  speech.

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• Give positive feedback.

2. When giving negative feedback, use I
messages.
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I/You Messages
YOU
I
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• Change the following You messages to a more
  positive I message.
• You never call me. 1. I wish you would call me
  more often.
• You dont listen to me! 2.
• Everyone here hates me! 3.
• Thats a dumb idea. 4.
• No one does anything here. 5.
• You annoy me, go away! 6.
• Leave me alone! 7.
• 8. You lied to me. 8.
• 9. Who invited you! 9.
• 10. You did a horrible job. 10.
• 11. You make me so mad. 11.
• 12. You are so inconsiderate! 12.

Sometimes I feel I am not being listened to.
I sometimes feel people dislike me.
Maybe we could try a different idea.
Lets everyone work hard together.
I need some time to myself right now.
I feel that you dont have time for me
anymore. Is something wrong?
I dont think that I was told the complete truth.
I didnt know you were coming.
I think you can do a little better.
I get angry at you sometimes when you
Sometimes I think you dont consider how I feel.
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• Give positive feedback.
• Use I messages for positive and for negative
  feedback.

• When giving negative feedback, concentrate on
  only one or two criticisms.
• Too many will be overwhelming.
• Choose the most disruptive or most occurring.

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• Give positive feedback.
• Use I messages for positive and for negative
  feedback.
• When giving negative feedback, concentrate on
  only one or two criticisms.

• Mention what the speaker could do to improve on
  the things you mention.
• Avoid bland comments like try moving. Instead,
  try, I noticed you didnt move to the left side
  any. Next time, try writing on your notecard to
  move maybe after your first main point to the
  left side.
• Think about the organization of the speech.
• Consider the content of the speech.
• Analyze the speakers language.
• Comment on the delivery the speaker used.

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• Consider how active a listener you are
• Do I clear my mind of thoughts that may distract
  me?
• Am I able to overcome a poor listening
  environment by adjusting to it or by ignoring
  distractions?
• Do I listen even when Im not interested or when
  I disagree with the speaker?
• Do I listen to content rather than focus on a
  speakers personality or delivery?
• Do I listen critically?

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Adler and Rodman, 2006. Understanding Human
Communication. 9th ed. Oxford University
Press, Inc. http//faculty.mdc.edu/mroqueta/ch9sum
mary.htm OConnor, J. R. Speech Exploring
Communication. New Jersey Prentice Hall,
1981. "Oxford University Press OUP USA Home."
2005. 12 July 2005 ltwww.us.oup.com/us/ppt/adl
er9/Chapter05.pptgt. Verderber, Rudolph. Speech
for Effective Communication. Austin Holt,
Reinhart, Winston, 1999. www.hawaii.edu/gened/oc/l
isten_fdbk.ppt