1. Listening
“Nature has given us one tongue, but two ears that we may hear twice as much as we speak.” Epictetus

2. What is the difference between listening and hearing?
Raise your hand if you think you have the answer.

3. Listening is…
more than simply hearing the sounds (sound vibrations hitting the ear drum, making vibrations).
It’s the conscious effort to make understanding of what you hear.
Comprehension

4. 25% of what we hear…
Studies show that we remember only 25 % of what we hear; we forget, ignore, distort, or misunderstand the great majority of incoming messages.
Why do you think this is?

5. Passive Listener
The listener does not involve themselves in the listening process.
We let the talker do all the work.
We put up with distractions.
We don’t respond to the speaker.
The listener thinks that all the work is the responsibility of the speaker.

6. Active Listening Taking an active role in the communication process.
Giving feedback to the communication process, verbal and nonverbal.
This is want we want to be while we’re in class listening to speeches.

7. 4 ways/reasons for listening
Appreciative: listening to enjoy EX: music
Discriminative: singling out one particular sound from a noisy environment to listen to EX: listening to your friend at a big party
Empathic: listening with acceptance, understanding & w/o judging EX: psychiatrists, or when a good friend has a problem
Critical: listeners evaluate what is hear and decide if the message is logical or valuable EX: when someone wants us to vote a certain way
Which reason for listening are you in now?

8. Ways to be a better listener
Turn off competing messages
Listen with your eyes
Understand both details & major ideas
Identify the reason for listening
Mentally summarize details of message
Practice listening
Work to overcome listening barriers
Listen actively

9. Look at the 7 Laws for Better Listening handout.

10. 7 Laws
Gag yourself; stop talking.