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Listening Listening Listening Listening

7: Inter-Act, 137: Inter-Act, 13thth Edition Edition

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Listening

Listening makes up 42-60% Listening makes up 42-60% of our communication.of our communication.

WritingSpeaking Reading

Listening StylesListening Styles• Content-oriented: prefer to focus on facts

and evidence

• People-oriented: prefer to focus on conversational partners and their feelings

• Action-oriented: prefer to focus on point speaker is trying to make

• Time-oriented: prefer brief and swift conversations

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Listening ApprehensionListening Apprehension

• Fear of misinterpretation

• Fear of the psychological affect of the message

Dual Processes in ListeningDual Processes in Listening

• Passive listening: effortless, thoughtless, and habitual process

• Active listening: skillful, intentional, deliberate, and conscious process

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ListeningListening

• Attending

• Understanding

• Remembering

• Critically Evaluating

• Responding

The process of receiving, constructing meaning from, and responding to spoken and/or nonverbal messages

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AttendingAttending

The process of willfully striving to perceive selected sounds that are being heardGet physically and mentally ready to

listen.Make the shift from speaker to listener a

complete one.Resist tuning out.Avoid interrupting.

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UnderstandingUnderstandingProcess of accurately decoding a message so that you share its meaning with the speaker

Identify the speaker’s purpose and key points.

Observe nonverbal cues.

Ask clarifying questions.

Paraphrase what you heard.

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Paraphrase the following statements to Paraphrase the following statements to reflect both the thoughts and feelings of reflect both the thoughts and feelings of the person speaking:the person speaking:

1. “I really like communication, but what could I do with a major in this field?”

2. “I don’t know if Pat and I are getting too serious too fast.”

3. “You can borrow my car, if you really need to, but please be careful with it. I can’t afford any repairs and if you have an accident, I won’t be able to drive to D.C. this weekend.”

RememberingRemembering

Reasons we fail to remember

• We filter out messages• We listen anxiously or

passively• We remember “easy” or

“desirable” messages • We forget the middle

Primacy effectRecency effect

Using repetition to remember

• Repeat two, three, four times

• Create mnemonics• Take notes

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Process of moving information from short-term memory to long-term memory

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MnemonicsMnemonicsAny artificial technique used as a memory aid

For example: take the first letter of a list you are trying to remember and create a word

HOMES (the five Great Lakes) Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior

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Note TakingNote Taking Take notes when you are listening to complex information.

Brief outline:Overall ideaMain pointsKey developmental material

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Critically Evaluating Critically Evaluating Information Information

• Separate facts from inferencesFact – a verifiable statementInference – a conclusion drawn

from facts

• Probe for information

RespondingRespondingProcess of providing feedback to your partner’s message

Back-channel cues: verbal and nonverbal signals demonstrating listener response to the speaker

Reply when message is complete

Respond to the previous message before changing the subject

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Digital Communication LiteracyDigital Communication Literacy

• Extra effort is required to understand digital messages.

• Critically evaluate social media messages to separate facts from inferences.

• Recognize underlying motives, values, ideologies.

• Digital messages should not completely replace face-to-face communication.

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