PowerPoint Presentation to accompany Looking Out, Looking In, Tenth Edition Chapter 7: Listening: More Than Meets the Ear Presentation prepared by Dr. Michael Pearson, Gretchen Gill, and Tim Scanlon of West Chester University Copyright © 2002 Thomson Learning, Inc. Thomson Learning™ is a trademark used herein under license. For permission to use material from this text, contact us by: Phone: 1-800-730-2214 Fax: 1-800-730-2215 Web: www.thomsonrights.com 1

CHAPTER 7 Listening: More Than Meets the Ear 2

Listening: More Than Meets the Ear Gender and Listening Elements in the Listening Process Gender and Listening Types of Ineffective listening Why We Don’t Listen Better Informational Listening Listening to Help 3

Elements in the Listening Process Listening - is a process that consists of five elements: hearing, attending, understanding, responding, and remembering Hearing Hearing - the physiological dimension of listening Attending Attending - the process of filtering out some messages and focusing on others 4

Elements in the Listening Process Understanding Understanding - occurs when we make sense of a message Responding Responding - giving observable feedback to the speaker Remembering Remembering - the ability to recall information 5

Gender and Listening Social Influences Western culture defines different roles for men and women. When men and women deviate from expectations dictated by their social roles, the results can be problematic. Biological Influences A recent study demonstrated physiological differences in brain activity between men and women during listening.

Types Of Ineffective Listening Pseudolistening Pseudolistening - an imitation of real listening; listener gives appearance of being attentive Stage-hogging Stage-hogging - try to turn the topic of conversations to themselves instead of showing interest in the speaker Selective Listening Selective Listening - respond only to the parts of your remarks that interest them, rejecting everything else 6

Types Of Ineffective Listening Insulated Listening Insulated listeners - instead of looking for something, these people avoid it Defensive Listening Defensive listeners - take others’ remarks as personal attacks 7

Types Of Ineffective Listening Ambushing Ambushing - listen carefully to you, but only to collect information to attack what you say Insensitive Listening Insensitive listeners - are not able to look beyond the words and behavior to understand their hidden meanings 8

Why We Don’t Listen Better Message Overload The amount of speech most of us encounter every day makes careful listening to everything we hear impossible. Preoccupation When one is wrapped up in personal concerns that are more important than the messages others are sending Rapid Thought A person’s brain can process more information than he/she can speak, therefore leading to “spare time.” 9

Why We Don’t Listen Better Effort Listening effectively is hard work. External Noise The physical world in which we live often presents distractions from the speaker. Rapid Thought Sometimes a person’s listening ability suffers from a physiological hearing problem. 10

Why We Don’t Listen Better Faulty Assumptions Often we make incorrect assumptions that lead us to believe we’re listening attentively when quite the opposite is true. Lack of Apparent Advantages It often appears that we have more to gain by speaking than by listening. 11

Why We Don’t Listen Better Lack of Training Even if we want to listen well, we are often hampered by a lack of training. Media Influences The trend of short segmented programming in our media discourages the kind of focused attention that is necessary for careful listening. 12

Informational Listening Talk Less Get Rid of Distractions Don’t Judge Prematurely Look for Key Ideas Ask Questions Paraphrase 13

Informational Listening Ask Questions Sincere questions - aimed at understanding others Counterfeit questions – aimed at sending a message, not receiving one Types of Counterfeit Questions Questions that trap the speaker Questions that make statements Questions that carry hidden agendas Questions that seek “correct” answers Questions based on unchecked assumptions 14

Informational Listening Paraphrase Paraphrasing/Active listening - statements that reword the listener’s interpretation of a message Types of Paraphrasing Statements Change the speaker’s wording Offer an example of what you think the speaker is talking about Reflect the underlying theme of the speaker’s remarks 15

Listening to Help Advising Judging Analyzing Advising response - to help by offering a solution Judging Judging response - evaluates the sender’s thoughts or behaviors in some way Analyzing Analyzing statement - the listener offers an interpretation of a speaker’s message 16

Listening to Help Questioning Questioning response - helps others think about their problems and understand them more clearly The best questioning follows these principles: Don’t ask questions just to satisfy your own curiosity. Be sure that your questions won’t confuse or distract the person you’re trying to help. Don’t use questions to disguise your suggestions or criticism. 17

Listening to Help Supporting Supportive response - reveal a listener’s solidarity with the speaker’s situation Types of support include: agreement, offers to help, praise, reassurance, and diversion. What effective support doesn’t sound like: Deny others the right to their feelings. Minimize the significance of the situation. Focus on “then and there” rather than “here and now.” Cast judgment. Defend yourself. Rain on the speaker’s parade.

Listening to Help Prompting Paraphrasing Prompting - using silences and brief statements of encouragement to draw others to speak of their problems Paraphrasing Factors to consider before deciding to paraphrase: Is the problem complex enough? Do you have the necessary time and concern? Are you genuinely interested in helping? Can you withhold judgment? Is your paraphrasing in proportion to other responses? 18

Listening to Help When and How to Help ? Three factors used to choose a helping style: Consider the situation Think about the other person Think about yourself 19