Chapter 6 Listening

Chapter Outcomes Outline the listening process and styles of listening List the advantages of listening well Identify challenges to good listening and their remedies Identify ethical factors in the listening process Describe how contexts affect listening

How We Listen Hearing Listening Physiological, involuntary process of perceiving sound Listening Multidimensional process of recognizing, understanding, and accurately interpreting and responding effectively to the messages you hear

The Listening Process Three specific components Affective component refers to your attitude toward listening to a person or message Cognitive component requires Selecting Attending Understanding

The Listening Process (cont.) Behavioral component requires Remembering Responding

The Listening Process (cont.) Active listening Requires active participation in making choices about selecting, attending, and so on Passive listening Means failing to make active choices Listening fidelity How well the listener’s thoughts match those of the message producer

Personal Listening Preferences People-oriented listeners Listen with relationships in mind Action-oriented listeners Focus on tasks

Personal Listening Preferences (cont.) Content-oriented listeners Evaluate what they hear Time-oriented listeners Consider efficiency most of all

The Value of Listening Well Helps your career Saves you time and money Creates opportunities Strengthens relationships Accomplishes your goals

Why We Listen Informational (comprehensive) listening Seeking to understand a message Critical (evaluative) listening Making a judgment about a message Using critical thinking to determine key points, focus efforts, decode nonverbal cues, use memory

Why We Listen (cont.) Empathic listening Feeling how another person feels Using openness, sensitivity, caring, nonverbal immediacy behaviors, and paraphrasing Appreciative listening Taking pleasure in sounds

Listening Challenges Listening barriers Factors that interfere with our ability to comprehend information and respond appropriately

Listening Challenges (cont.) Environmental factors include Loud noise, unpleasant temperatures, visual distractions, large groups Hearing and processing challenges include Physical or medical issues related to age or physical condition

Listening Challenges (cont.) Multitasking Impairs our ability to focus on any one thing Boredom and overexcitement Distract effective listening Attitudes about listening Belief that talking is more powerful Overconfidence and laziness Listening (receiver) apprehension

The Ethics of Listening Unethical listening behaviors Defensive listening involves responding with aggression without fully listening. Selective listening zeros in on bits of interesting information. Insensitive listening means listening only to words, not to emotional content.

The Ethics of Listening (cont.) Unethical listening behaviors (cont.)‏ Self-absorbed means hearing only the information related to your own goals Monopolistic listening Attacking Ambushing Pseudolistening means pretending to listen by nodding or saying “uh-huh.”

Listening in Context Relational and situational contexts Cultural context Technological context