1. Listening
Chapter 3

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

3. 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

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

5. How to Listen Effectively

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. The Listener’s Responsibilities

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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

16. The Speaker’s Responsibilities

17. 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

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

19. 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

20. Speech Evaluations

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

23. 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

24. 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”

25. 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