A SPEAKER

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A SPEAKERS GUIDEBOOK4TH EDITIONCHAPTER 4

• Listening

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Listening

• Hearing physiological response
• Listening active, cognitive process
• Feedback Loop
  Successful
• speakers adjust their
  messages based on reactions from
  listeners in a circular response.

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Competent Listeners

• Have more successful relationships
• Experience greater professional success
• Are better problem solvers
• Are more engaged citizens
• Learn from listening to other speakers

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Components of the Listening Process

• Mindfulness
• Physical reception of communication
• Selective perception of communication
• Organizing perceived communication
• Interpreting communication
• Responding to others nonverbally
• Remembering communication

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Selective Perception

• We pay attention to one message while ignoring
  another. For example, walking to
• your next class, you ignore your
• friend to answer your cell phone.
• Listeners pay attention to a
• message based on its importance,
• its relevance to listener, and the
• level of understanding.

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Dialogic Communication

• To occur, the speaker and listener must create
  meaning for the message together.
• A speech is not a monologue by which the speaker
  tries to impose her beliefs and thoughts on the
  audience like she would enter data into a
  computer.
• Speeches are dialogues by which the speaker and
  the listener share ideas collaboratively both
  take an active role in the process.

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Four Steps in the Listening Process

• 1. Reception the message must be successfully
  received by the listener.
• 2. Selection the speaker must assist the
  listener in maintaining attention to the message.
• 3. Organization the speaker must present her
  thoughts in an organized way, so that the
  listener can process the meaning more easily.
• 4. Motivation the listener must be open to
  receive messages to which he may first wish to
  ignore.

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Critical Thinking

• The ability to evaluate claims on the basis of
  well-supported reasons.
• Audience members should evaluate the evidence for
  accuracy and credibility.
• Pay attention to assumptions and biases, such as
  overgeneralizations which are unreasonable and
  unsupported conclusions.

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Guidelines for Evaluating Messages

• Be honest and fair in your evaluating by being
  open to other viewpoints and considering the
  speech as a whole.
• Adjust to the speakers style of delivery,
  especially with your classmates who are learning
  how to improve their word choice and gestures.
• Be compassionate in your criticism by providing
  constructive feedback.

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A SPEAKERS GUIDEBOOK4TH EDITIONCHAPTER 4

• Barriers to Active Listening

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Factors that have reduced listening skills

• We move at a fast pace in everyday life.
• Media outlets encourage passive listening.
• Commercials and other mini-messages contribute
  to difficulty in sustaining attention for long
  periods of time.

Try this Count the mini-messages during
your favorite TV sitcom using your stopwatch. How
much time elapsed between commercial breaks or
scene changes? How long was each commercial? Did
you have any interruptions during the sitcom
i.e. telephone ringing, person entered room,
your pet barked?
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External Obstacles to Listening

• A. Message Overload
• B. Message Complexity
• C. Noise
• Question Which of these is more of an
  obstacle to you than the others?

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Internal Listening Distractions

• Thoughts and feelings that intrude on our
  attention are internal listening distractions or
  obstacles.
• Daydreaming, anxiety, illness, or fatigue are
  examples of common distractions.
• Scriptwriting is when the listener is to busy to
  listen because he is thinking of what to say
  next.
• Defensive listeners prejudge the message and
  assume they already know the information or that
  the speaker is against their values.
• Cultural differences impact how well we listen.

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Internal Obstacles to Listening

• A. Preoccupation
• B. Prejudgment
• C. Reacting to Emotionally Loaded Language
• D. Lack of Effort
• E. Not Adapting to Diverse Speaking Styles
• Question Which of these is more of an
  obstacle to you?

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Active Listeners

• Set listening goals.
• Listen for main ideas.
• Watch for the speakers nonverbal cues.
• Did you ever try to
• tune out the speaker as
• this child is doing?

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Steps in Setting Listening Goals

• Identify your need for listening to the speech.
• Indicate the performance standard to demonstrate
  effective listening has occurred.
• Make an action statement where you visualize
  minimizing internal distractions and listening
  well.
• Assess goal achievement by taking a moment to
  review your evaluation sheet to confirm that you
  did an adequate job as a listener.

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Listen for Main Ideas

• Listen for the organizational pattern of the
  message.
• Listen for the internal preview in the
  introduction, transition statements and signposts
  between the main ideas, and match these with the
  concluding review.
• Take notes on the main ideas and supporting
  evidence.

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Watch for Nonverbal Cues

• Pay attention to direct eye contact speakers
  often emphasize important thoughts by gazing
  directly at the audience.
• Emphatic gestures and changes in facial
  expressions often indicate important concepts or
  strong feelings on the part of the speaker.

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Group Work Listening to Support Others

• The primary concern should be the relationship
  with other group members we should care about
  others feelings and perceptions.
• Concentrate on what is behind the literal content
  to know what the other person is thinking or
  feeling.
• Avoid judgmental responses,
• but be honest when others
• want our evaluative feedback.

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Chapter 4 Key Terms for Review

• feedback loop
• listening
• selective perception
• dialogue
• dialogic communication
• active listening
• listening distraction
• external listening

• distraction
• internal listening
• distraction
• defensive listening
• critical thinking
• valid generalization
• overgeneralization