Listening Chapter 3

Poor Listening Skills After listening to a 10-minute presentation, how much is understood and retained? Ten minutes later: 50% Two days later: 25%

Hearing vs. Listening Hearing – the process by which sound waves are received by the ear Listening – the act of interpreting and evaluating what is being said

Hearing vs. Listening “Hearing is with the ears . . . . . . listening is with the mind.”

How to Listen Effectively

How to Listen Effectively 1. Prepare yourself physically and intellectually Physically Get plenty of sleep Intellectually If subject is new, do a little background reading before class

How to Listen Effectively 2. Be Willing to Expand Energy Don’t assume that by just being in a room with a speaker, that you are absorbing all of the content Listening takes effort You must be alert and give your total concentration to the speaker in order to truly comprehend the message

How to Listen Effectively 3. Take Notes Gives you a record of the most important parts Unless you have superhuman memory powers, there is NO way you can remember everything Sharpens and strengthens your ability to listen Good way to keep your attention on speaker and not let your mind wander

How to Listen Effectively 4. Resist Distractions Auditory – people coughing, whispering, loud music from room next door Visual – posters on wall, another student with an intriguing look, a book for another class Physical – a headache or stuffy nose, a seat that is too hard, room that is too hot Mental – daydreams or worries

How to Listen Effectively 5. Avoid Fake Listening If you engage in fake listening, you might miss a lot of important information, but worse, you might risk embarrassment

How to Listen Effectively 6. Give Every Speaker a Fair Chance Don’t stop listening to speakers because you dislike their looks or clothes Instead, focus on the message which might be interesting and worthwhile

The Listener’s Responsibilities

The Listener’s Responsibilities 1. Avoid Rudeness Follow the Golden Rule: Listen unto others as you would have others listen unto you Reject Electronic Intrusion: Don’t text, Tweet, Snapchat or Listen to music while others are talking to you Refrain from Mulittasking “To do two things at once is to do neither” -Publilius Syrus

The Listener’s Responsibilities 2. Provide Encouragement Encouraging the speaker as much as possible By giving your full attention By taking notes By leaning forward slightly to show interest By looking directly at speaker By smiling or nodding approval

The Listener’s Responsibilities 3. Find Value in Every Speech Sometimes you will hear a speech that you think is boring, or you have a boring teacher Instead of tuning them out, try to find something worthwhile Even is speech is bad, you can learn what not to do in your own speech

The Speaker’s Responsibilities

The Speaker’s Responsibilities 1. Maintain High Ethical Standards Never Distort Information Be honest about facts and figures “A liar will not be believed, even when he or she speaks the truth” - Aesop Respect Your Audience Give information that will be useful to them Do not talk down to them

The Speaker’s Responsibilities 2. Enrich Listener’s Lives A speech can bring interesting information and valuable viewpoints into your listeners’ lives.

The Speaker’s Responsibilities 3. Take Every Speech Seriously Classroom speeches are important and we can learn a lot from what you have to say

Speech Evaluations

When Evaluating 1. Establish Criteria You will have a checklist that you will look at when students are speaking

When Evaluating 2. Listen 3. Take Notes Keep an open mind about the speech Don’t be distracted by speaker’s delivery or appearance 3. Take Notes Jot down your observations on the evaluation sheet

When Evaluating 4. Look for positive and negative Point out positive so speaker will continue to do well Point out negative so speaker can improve 5. Ignore Nervousness 6. Be specific It is NOT helpful to say “You did great” or “okay” Instead, say “You need to improve your eye contact”

When Receiving Evaluations 1. Don’t be defensive Try to understand criticism Don’t argue 2. Seek clarification If evaluator makes a comment you don’t understand, ask for an explanation 3. Strive for improvement In your next speech, try to make corrections