Listening Introduction to Speech

Listening This skill begins with a decision. Hearing comes naturally, but listening is a learned social skill. You have to decide to do it!

5 Steps to Listening Process:

Step 1 Hearing – You hear sounds. Barriers to hearing: noise, hearing impairment, fatigue, distraction and sender deficiency.

Step 2 Interpreting – Decoding the signals and understanding the sensory input. You relate what you hear to what you already know.

Step 3 Evaluating – Distinguishing facts from opinions and identifying possible biases. You figure out the speakers’ intent after you fully understand his or her point of view.

Step 4 Remembering – You remember what you understand of what you said. You consciously commit some things to memory because you need the information or because the experience is important to you.

Step 5 Responding – Reacting to a speaker by sending cues. Example: nodding and saying “I see” or smiling at a speaker.

What to listen for: Information – This is what you do most of the time in school. Emotion – The speaker sets out to establish a relationship. Sometimes people talk due to insecurity or nervousness. Attitude – Distinguish fact from opinion. Speakers may talk about something they’ve observed. How they say it will convey how they feel about it.

Continued… Goals and Hidden Agendas – Sometimes a listener can pick up on a strong theme that may not be expressed directly. Thoughts, Ideas, Opinions – Pay attention to what the speaker leaves out. People talk about things that interest them and omit things that don’t.

4 Barriers to Listening As a listener, your job is to duplicate in your mind the speaker’s exact message and intent.

Barrier 1 External Barriers: begin outside the speaker and listener, usually in the surrounding environment. Examples- Noise, Physical Distraction, Information Overload

Barrier 2 Listener Barriers: internal or psychological. They begin with the listener. Examples – Boredom, Laziness, Waiting to Speak, “Opinionatedness”, Prejudice, Lack of Interest

Barrier 3 Speaker Barriers: They begin with the speaker. Five Examples – Appearance (clothes, age, sex, etc.) Manner (how he/she behaves, moves, talks) Power (too much or lack of) Credibility (degree to which people can believe the speaker) Message (Awe or Yawn)

Barrier 4 Cultural Barriers: Prejudice, Speaking Styles, Source Credibility, Nonverbal Communication, Accents

3 Types of Listening

Type 1 Active Listening – You engage your mind and listen for the speaker’s meaning. Empathetic Listening – When you use the steps of active listening to seek emotional rather than intellectual understanding of the speaker. (Sharing the speaker’s mood) Creative Listening – When you listen and use your imagination simultaneously. This is useful in generating ideas in a brainstorm session.

Type 2 Informational Listening – You listen mainly for content, attempting to identify the speaker’s purpose, main ideas and supporting details.

Type 3 Critical Listening – You analyze, evaluate, and draw conclusions about the speaker’s ideas. Used in formal situations, especially when listening for persuasive messages.

Propaganda This is a form of persuasion that discourages listeners from making an independent choice. Propagandists state their positions or opinions as though these are accepted truths, without evidence to back their claims. Examples: jumping on the bandwagon, name- calling, emotional appeals, stereotypes, and creating drama.