1. Chapter 4
Listening Skills

2. Listening Skills: Introduction
Listening is an important skill for speakers.
Good listening can help:
During the research process
During practice when you receive feedback
During your speech as the audience gives you feedback

3. Listening Skills: Introduction
Hearing is passive reception.
Listening means actively paying attention to the message.

4. Listening Skills: An Overview
Reviewing the following topics will help you become a better listener:
The importance of listening
The process of listening
Causes of ineffective listening
Suggestions for improving listening

6. Why Listen? Good listening can:
Improve a speaker’s connection with the audience by helping him or her respond to feedback
Help an audience member absorb information and critically evaluate claims

7. The Listening Process Effective listening requires:
Processing what you have heard
Retaining what you’ve processed

8. The Listening Process: Processing What You’ve Heard
Processing involves actively thinking about both vocal and nonverbal messages and cues.
Allows a listener to make better decisions with the information

9. The Listening Process: Retaining What You’ve Processed
Retention is your ability to remember what you’ve heard.
Easier if you have good attention and listening skills
The attentiveness curve demonstrates the listening patterns of poor listeners.

10. The Listening Process: The Attentiveness Curve

11. The Culprits Behind Poor Listening: An Overview
Unprocessed note taking
Nonlistening
Interruptive listening
Agenda-driven listening
Argumentative listening
Nervous listening

12. Culprits Behind Poor Listening: Unprocessed Note Taking
Unprocessed note taking means writing verbatim notes.
When taking notes, focus on the content of what’s being said.
Don’t take notes only to take notes.

13. Unprocessed Note Taking

14. Culprits Behind Poor Listening: Nonlistening
Not paying attention
It is as if the information is hitting a brick wall.
Retention is impossible.

15. Culprits Behind Poor Listening: Interruptive Listening
When one person consistently interrupts another
Audiences can interrupt to derail a speaker.
Speakers can also interrupt audiences, cutting off a question or comment.

16. Culprits Behind Poor Listening: Interruptive Listening
All interruptive listening is:
Rude
Limits listening
Decreases credibility and goodwill

17. Interruptive Listening

18. Culprits Behind Poor Listening: Agenda-Driven Listening
Focusing so much on what comes next in the speech you pay little attention to audience members
Annoys audience members and damages credibility

20. Culprits Behind Poor Listening: Argumentative Listening
Listening only enough to fuel your own arguments
May occur:
If audience disagrees
If speaker feels attacked
If interviewer disagrees with interviewee

21. Culprits Behind Poor Listening: Nervous Listening
Feeling compelled to talk through silences
Makes it difficult to gather and interpret information

22. Tips for Culprits Behind Poor Listening
Tip: Some silence is okay. If you feel compelled to speak during a pause, count to three before you speak.
Tip: Planning, preparation, and practice can help avoid unplanned silences and agenda-driven listening.

23. Becoming a Better Listener: An Overview
You can be a better listener by improving your interactive listening skills, which involves:
Filtering out distractions
Focusing on the speaker
Showing that you are listening

24. Becoming a Better Listener: Filter out Distractions
Try to ignore external distractions.
Try to blot out internal noise, or any thoughts that make it hard for you to concentrate.
Examples of internal noise include:
Worrying about your grade
Thinking about your social life

25. Becoming a Better Listener: Focus on the Speaker
Keep your mind on what the speaker is saying.
Do not consider what the speaker will say next.
Ask yourself questions about what you just heard.

26. Becoming a Better Listener: Show That You Are Listening
Nonverbal cues that indicate listening:
Alert posture
Head nodding
Eye contact
Verbal cues that indicate listening:
Asking questions
Paraphrasing audience member’s question

28. Maximizing Your Audience’s Listening: Anticipate Ineffective Listening
Perform audience surveillance.
Consider audience’s attention and energy levels.
Assess audience’s knowledge and abilities, then adjust.
Front- and back-load your main message.
Use presentation aids strategically.
JUST FYI: This section is not in the instructors manual

30. Maximizing Your Audience’s Listening: Encourage Active Listening
Tailor your delivery by adjusting your voice, volume, fluency, projection, rate, and timing.
Acknowledge the viewpoints of argumentative listeners.
Pause for questions to help re-engage defeated listeners.
Engage superficial listeners by making eye contact or asking questions.

31. Maximizing Your Audience’s Listening: Encourage Active Listening

32. Listening When You Are in the Audience
Providing a speech critique can help you and the speaker.
A good critique provides constructive criticism:
Take notes.
Identify main points.
Consider speech’s objectives.

33. Listening When You Are in the Audience
Other considerations during the speech critique:
Support your feedback with examples.
Be courteous and nonbiased.
Hold the speaker accountable.

34. Tips for the Listening Process
Tip: Keep an open mind when listening; every listening experience is an opportunity for learning.
Tip: Listen to others as you would like them to listen to you.