Active Listening Draft Report

8/3/2019 Active Listening Draft Report

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ACTIVE LISTENING

Submitted byWg cdr RK Nandhuri roll no 5Lt col P K Mishra roll no 1Mr ojha

Pl write you names and roll no


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Listening is one of the most important communication skills that we canacquire. Listening is the primary way that we understand others, enrichour own lives, and learn important, often vital, information. Listening is askill that must be developed through practice. We need to to developour own listening skills in our relationships with others, in the workplace,and in the classroom.

What Is Listening?

1. Have you ever had the embarrassing experience of havingsomeone ask you a question during a conversation when you were onlypretending to listen? You have no idea what the question was, so youhave no idea what the answer should be. Or have you ever hadsomeone ask you to do something that was important to that person butunimportant to youso you forgot to do it? The sounds may go into your

ears, but that does not mean that your brain interprets them; nor does itmean that your mind stores the message or that your body does whatthe message requested. Sometimes you hear, you listen, and you evenunderstand the message, but you do not obey. The listening process iscomplicated. Much happens between the reception of sounds and anovert response by the receiver.

2. The first step in learning about listening is to understand thedistinction between hearing and listening. Hearing is simply the act of

receiving sound. You can close your eyes to avoid seeing, pinch yournose to avoid smelling, and shrink away to avoid touch, but your earshave no flaps to cover them. Their structure suggests that for your ownprotection, your ears should never be closed, even when you sleep.Because you cannot close your ears, you receive and hear soundsconstantly However, hearing is not the same as listening. Listening,asdefined by the ILA, is the active process of receiving, constructingmeaning from, and responding to spoken and/or nonverbal messages. It


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involves the ability to retain information, as well as to react empathicallyand/or appreciatively to spoken and/or nonverbal messages. As youcan see, listening involves more than simply hearing. Notably,listening isan active process involving the construction and retention of andreaction to meanings we assign to information.

3. The active process of receiving, constructing meaning from, andresponding to spoken and/or nonverbal messages is called listening.Itinvolves the ability to retain information, as well as to react empathicallyand/or appreciatively to spoken and/or nonverbal messages. we receivestimuli (such as music, words, or sounds) in the ear, where the smallestbones in the body translate the vibrations into sensations registered bythe brain. The brain, using what is referred to as attention and workingmemory, focuses on the sensations and gives them meaning. Your brain

might, for example, recognize the first few bars of a favorite song, thevoice of a favorite artist, or the sound of a police siren. Upon hearingthese sounds, you immediately know what they mean. Your interpretedmessage is then stored in short-term memory for immediate use or inlong-term memory for future recall .People create many obstacles toeffective listening. Not all obstacles, however, are the fault of lazy,unethical, or ineffective listeners. Because listening is a process, naturalbarriers present themselves at various stages. These natural barriersare explained for each major step in the listening process: attention,working memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory.

Attention

4. After the ear receives sound waves, the brain sorts them byimportance. Think of the last time you had a conversation in the mall orcafeteria. Your brain was being bombarded by aural stimuli, or sounds,but your mind was able to block out the other sounds and focus on yourfriends voice. In most circumstances this process of blocking outirrelevant stimuli and focusing on important stimuli is volitional, or

voluntary. That is, we want to selectively hear what our friend has to sayrather than the fragmented chatter of the adolescents ahead of us. Inother situations, our attention is automatic rather than selective. Weautomatically focus attention in the direction of a loud bang, a siren, orthe cry of a baby. Attention can be selective or automatic. Selectiveattention is the sustained focus we give to stimuli we deem important.We selectively pay attention to our favorite television show, to ourfriends during conversation, and to the professors in our classes.


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Selective attention can be impeded by our minds instinct to payautomatic attention to certain stimuli. Automatic attention is theinstinctive focus we give to stimuli signaling a change in oursurroundings (like a person walking into the room), stimuli that we deemimportant (our name being shouted from across the room), or stimuli that

we perceive to signal danger (like a siren or loud bang). The problemfaced by all of us is that automatic attention competes with selectiveattention. When we are trying to selectively pay attention to one stimulus(like our professors lecture), other stimuli naturally draw our automaticAttention

Working Memory

5. Once we have paid selective attention to relevant sounds and

stimuli, our brain must initially process and make sense of those stimuli.Working memory is the part of our consciousness that interprets andassigns meaning to stimuli we pay attention to. Our working memorylooks for shortcuts when processing information. Rather than trying tointerpret each letter in a word, our working memory quickly recognizesthe pattern of letters and assigns meaning. Likewise, when we hear thesounds of a word, our working memory recognizes the pattern of soundsrather than trying to process each sound separately. On a larger scale,our working memory can recognize patterns of words. For instance, ifyou watch the game show Wheel of Fortune, your working memory

helps you look for patterns of words combined into phrases, even whenall of the letters and words are not visible. Because the recognition ofpatterns is an essential function of working memory, working memorymust work in conjunction with long-term memory. Although we discusslong-term memory in detail later, understand that working memory looksfor connections between newly heard information and information storedin long-term memory. If your mind finds connections, patterns are moreeasily distinguished and listening is more efficient.

Short-Term Memory

6. Once interpreted in working memory, information is sent to eithershort-term or long-term memory. Short-term memory is a temporarystorage place for information. All of us use short-term memory to retainthoughts that we want to use immediately but do not necessarily want tokeep for future reference. You might think of short-term memory as


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being similar to a Post-it note. You will use the information on the notefor a quick reference but will soon discard it or decide to write it downin a more secure location. We constantly use short-term memory, but itis the least efficient of our memory resources. Classic studies in the fieldof psychology have documented that short-term memory is limited in

both the quantity of information stored and the length of time informationis retained (Miller, 1994). In terms of quantity, shortterm memory islimited to 7 _ 2 bits of information. A bit of information is any organizedunit of information including sounds, letters, words, sentences, orsomething less concrete like ideas, depending on the ability of workingmemory to recognize patterns. If your short-term memory becomesoverloaded (for average people more than 9 bits of information), youbegin to forget. Short-term memory is also limited to about 20 seconds induration unless some strategy like rehearsal is used. If you rehearse aphone number over and over until you reach your dorm room, you will

likely remember it. However, if something breaks your concentration andyou stop rehearsing, the number will likely be lost. Unfortunately, manylisteners rely too much on short-term memory during the listeningprocess. Researchers in the field of communication have found thatindividuals recall only 50% of a message immediately after listening to itand only 25% after a short delay (Gilbert, 1988)

Long-Term Memory

7. Information processed in working memory can also be stored inlong-term memory for later recall. Similarly, information temporarilystored in short-term memory can be deemed important andsubsequently stored in long-term memory. If short-term memory is thePost-it note in the listening process, long-term memory is thesupercomputer. Long-term memoryis our permanent storage place forinformation including but not limited to past experiences; language;values; knowledge; images of people; memories of sights, sounds, andsmells; and even fantasies. Unlike shor tterm memory, long-termmemory has no known limitations in the quantity or duration of stored

information. Explanations of how long-term memory works are onlyspeculative; however, researchers hypothesize that our thoughts areorganized according to schema, which are organizational filingsystems for thoughts held in long-term memory. We might think ofschema as an interconnected web of information. Our ability toremember information in long-term memory is dependent on findingconnections to the correct schema containing the particular memory,thought, idea, or image we are trying to recall. In theory, people with


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normal functioning brains never lose information stored in long-termmemory. How is it, then, that we often forget things we listen to? Whenwe try to access information in long-term memory, we access schemaholding needed information through the use of stimulus cues, whichcould be words, images, or even smells and tastes. If the cue we receive

does not give us enough information to access the correspondingschema, we may be unable to recall the information. Consider, forexample, a situation in which you see a person who looks familiar. In thiscase you recognize the person (a visual cue); however, that stimulusdoes not provide you with enough information to recall who it is. If youhear the persons voice or if she or he mentions a previous encounterwith you, you may then have enough information to activate the correctschema and recall specific details about her or him. Long-term memoryplays a key role in the listening process. As we receive sounds, ourworking memory looks for patterns based on schema contained in our

long-term memory. Thus our ability to use language, to recognizeconcepts, and to interpret meaning is based on the schema weaccumulate over a lifetime. If we encounter new information that doesnot relate to preexisting schema, our working memory instructs our long-term memory to create new schema to hold the information.

The Importance of Listening in OurLives

8. Given our basic understanding of listening, it is clearly an essentialskill for effective communicators. A classic study of listening showed thatAmericans spend more than 40% of their time listening (Rankin, 1926).Weinrauch and Swanda (1975) found that business personnel, includingthose with and without managerial responsibilities, spend nearly 33% oftheir time listening, almost 26% of their time speaking, nearly 23% oftheir time writing, and almost 19% of their time reading. When Werner(1975) investigated the communication activities of high school andcollege students, homemakers, and employees in a variety of otheroccupations, she determined that they spend 55% of their time listening,

13% reading, and 8% writing. Figure 5.2 shows how much time collegestudents spend in various communication activities each day. Accordingto these studies, you spend over half your time (53%) listening either tothe mass media or to other people. The importance of listening is evenclearer when we consider how we use it in our personal and professionallives. Listening helps us build and maintain relationships and can evenhelp us determine whether the person we are talking to is being deceitful


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(di Batista, 1997). Listening is also recognized as an essential skill forbusiness success (Haigh, 2006). Because of effective listening, we areable to improve workplace relationship and be more productive(Nichols, 2006). Listening is even linked to successful communicationwithin highly technical fields like medicine, in which improved listening

skills on the part of doctors are associated with fewer malpractice claimsfrom patients (Lenckus, 2005).

FourTypes of Listening

9. Listening is classified into four main types: active listening,empathiclistening,criticallistening,andlistening forenjoyment.

10. Active listening .It is involved listening with a purpose. Activelistening involves the steps of listening carefully by using all available senses, paraphrasing what is heard both mentally and verbally, checking your understanding to ensure accuracy, and providing feedback.

Feedback consists of the listeners verbal and nonverbal responses tothe speaker and the speakers message. Feedback can be positive,whereby the speakers message is confirmed, or negative, whereby the

speakers message is disconfirmed.

11. Empathic listening.It is a form of active listening in which youattempt to understand the other person. You engage in empathiclistening by using both mindfulness which is being fully engaged inthemoment (Wood, 2002), and empathy,which is the ability to perceiveanother persons worldview as if it were your own

12. critical listening. Here you challenge the speakers message byevaluating its accuracy, meaningfulness, and utility. Critical listening and

critical thinking really go hand in hand: You cannot listen critically if youdo not think critically .Skills in critical listening are especially importantbecause we are constantly bombarded with commercials, telemarketingcalls, and other persuasive messages .Later in the chapter we discussseveral strategies you can use to listen and think critically.13. listening for enjoyment. It involves seeking out situationsinvolving relaxing, fun, or emotionally stimulating information. Whetheryou are listening toyour favorite musical group or televisionshow, or your


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friend telling a story, youcontinue listening because you enjoy it .Besideshelping you relax, studies show that listening to enjoyable music caneven reduce pain for hospital patients

Activelistening

14. Active listening is listening with a purpose. It is more than justhearing which is the act of perceiving sound. When you hear a sound ornoise, you are receiving aural stimuli. Listening goes beyond justregistering that there is a sound in the environment. It involves receivingand interpreting the aural stimuli, and creating meaning from the sound.Using active listening skills can help to minimize or avoid unnecessaryconflict. It can bring clarity and understanding to conversations andinteractions with other people. To work, the listener focuses on thewords and the feelings of the speaker for understanding. Active listeninghappens when the listener hears the various messages being sent,

understands their meaning, and then verifies the meaning by offeringfeedback.

WhatWe Achieve by Listening

15. Active listening is an important way to bring about changes inpeople. Despite the popular notion that listening is a passive approach,clinical and research evidence clearly shows that sensitive listening is amost effective agent for individual personality change and groupdevelopment. Listening brings about changes in peoples attitudes

toward themselves and others; it also brings about changes in theirbasic values and personal philosophy. People who have been listened toin this new and special way become more emotionally mature, moreopen to their experiences, less defensive, more democratic, and lessauthoritarian. When people are listened to sensitively, they tend to listento themselves with more care and to make clear exactly what they arefeeling and thinking. Group members tend to listen more to each other,


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to become less argumentative, more ready to incorporate other points ofview. Because listening reduces the threat of having ones ideascriticized, the person is better able to see them for what they are and ismore likely to feel that his contributions are worthwhile. Not the leastimportant result of listening is the change that takes place within the

listener himself. Besides providing more information than any otheractivity, listening builds deep, positive relationships and tends to alterconstructively the attitudes of the listener. Listening is a growthexperience. These, then, are some of the worthwhile results we canexpect from active listening.

WhatWe Communicate by Listening

16. The first reaction of most people when they consider listening as apossible method for dealing with human beings is that listening cannotbe sufficient in itself, Because it is passive, they feel, listening does notcommunicate anything to the speaker. Actually, nothing could be fartherfrom the truth. By consistently listening to a speaker, you are conveyingthe idea that: Im interested in you as a person, and I think that whatyou feel is important. I respect your thoughts, and even if I dont agreewith them, I know that they are valid for you. I feel sure that you have acontribution to make. Im not trying to change you or evaluate you. I just

want to understand you. I think youre worth listening to ,and I want youto know that Im the kind of a person you can talk to. The subtle butmore important aspect of this is that it is the demonstration of themessage that works. While it is most difficult to convince someone thatyou respect him by telling him so, you are much more likely to get thismessage across by really behaving that wayby actually having anddemonstrating respect for this person. Listening does this mosteffectively. Like other behavior, listening behavior is contagious. Thishas implications for all communication problems, whether between twopeople or within a large organization. To ensure good communication

between associates up and down the line, one must first take theresponsibility for setting a pattern of listening. Just as one learns thatanger is usually met with anger, argument with argument, and deceptionwith deception, one can learn that listening can be met with listening.Every person who feels responsibility in a situation can set the tone ofthe interaction, and the important lesson in this is that any behaviorexhibited by one person will eventually be responded to with similarbehavior in the other person. It is far more difficult to stimulate


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constructive behavior in another person but far more profitable. Listeningis one of these constructive behaviors, but if ones attitude is to wait outthe speaker rather than really listen to him, it will fail. The one whoconsistently listens with understanding, however, is the one whoeventually is most likely to be listened to. If you really want to be heard

and understood by another, you can develop him as a potential listener,ready for new ideas, provided you can first develop yourself in theseways and sincerely listen with understanding and respect. Becauseunderstanding another person is actually far more difficult than it at firstseems, it is important to test constantly your ability to see the world inthe way the speaker sees it. You can do this by reflecting in your ownwords what the speaker seems to mean by his words and actions. Hisresponse to this will tell you whether or not he feels understood. A goodrule of thumb is to assume that you never really understand until you cancommunicate this understanding to the others satisfaction. Here is an

experiment to test your skill in listening. The next time you becomeinvolved in a lively or controversial discussion with another person, stopfor a moment and suggest that you adopt this ground rule for continueddiscussion :Before either participant in the discussion can make a pointor express an opinion of his own, he must first restate aloud the previouspoint or position of the other person. This restatement must be in hisown words (merely parroting the words of another does not prove thatone has understood but only that he has heard the words). Therestatement must be accurate enough to satisfy the speaker before thelistener can be allowed to speak for himself.

How do we becomeactivelisteners?Whatto Do ?

17. Just what does active listening entail, Basically, it requires that weget inside the speaker, that we grasp, from his point of view, just what itis he is communicating to us. More than that, we must convey to thespeaker that we are seeing things from his point of view. To listenactively, then, means that there are several things we must do. Listen forTotal Meaning. Any message a person tries to get across usually has

two components: the content of the message and the feeling or attitudeunderlying this content. Both are important; both give the messagemeaning. It is this total meaning of the message that we try tounderstand. For example, a machinist comes to his foreman and says,Ive finished that lathe setup. This message has obvious content andperhaps calls upon the foreman for another work assignment, Suppose,on the other hand, that he says, Well, Im finally finished with thatdamned lathe setup. The content is the same, but the total meaning of


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the message has changedand changed in an important way for boththe foreman and the worker. Here sensitive listening can facilitate therelationship. Suppose the foreman were to respond by simply givinganother work assignment. Would the employee feel that he had gottenhis total message across? Would he feel free to talk to his foreman? Will

he feel better about his job, more anxious to do good work on the nextassignment? Now, on the other hand, suppose the foreman were torespond with, Glad to have it over with, huh? or Had a pretty roughtime of it? or "I guess you dont feel like doing anything like that again,or anything else that tells the worker that he heard and understands. Itdoesnt necessarily mean that the next work assignment need bechanged or that he must spend an hour listening to the worker complainabout the setup problems he encountered. He may do a number ofthings differently in the light of the new information he has from theworkerbut not necessarily. Its just that extra sensitivity on the part of

the foreman which can transform an average working climate into agood one. Respond to Feelings. In some instances, the content is farless important than the feeling which underlies it. To catch the full flavoror meaning of the message, one must respond particularly to the feelingcomponent. If, for instance, our machinist had said, Id like to melt thislathe down and make paper clips out of it, responding to content wouldbe obviously absurd. But to respond to his disgust or anger in trying towork with his lathe recognizes the meaning of this message. There arevarious shadings of these components in the meaning of any message.Each time, the listener must try to remain sensitive to the total meaning

the message has to the speaker. What is he trying to tell me? What doesthis mean to him? How does he see this situation? Note All Cues. Not allcommunication is verbal. The speakers words alone dont tell useverything he is communicating. And hence, truly sensitive listeningrequires that we become aware of several kinds of communicationbesides verbal. The way in which a speaker hesitates in his speech cantell us much about his feelings. So, too, can the inflection of his voice.He may stress certain points loudly and clearly and may mumble others.We should also note such things as the persons facial expressions,body posture, hand movements, eye movements, and breathing. All of

these help to convey his total message


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18. To develop these skills and characteristics, it helps to be aware ofsome verbal active listening techniques, and nonverbal techniques. Youcan also test your skills through the active listening checklist.

Checklist forActive Listeners Do you paraphrase or rephrase what has been said before you

respond? Do you seek clarification ? Do you open all meetings with meeting ground rules ? Do you encourage everyone to participate?

Do you look at and make eye contact with others when they areo talking to you?

Do you make every effort to understand the question from thequestioner's point of view?

Do you seek an immediate response or run quick meetings (somepeople need more time to process new information)?

Are you aware of the numerical imbalance in meetings (men vs.women)?

Do you go around the table and address each person by nameand give them an opportunity to speak?

Do you watch for body language and indicators that certainindividuals want to participate but look frustrated because peerskeep cutting them off?

Do you have meetings where a few voices dominate the meeting? Do you remain neutral until all points of view have been

presented? Do you balance participation between different styles?


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These questions are meant to provoke thought and discussion.If you answer no to any of these, the impact your actions have on othersmay vary from your intentions. Active listening is a way to bring yourimpact closer to the intended effect.

Things you can do to improveyourlistening skills.

19. How do we improve our active listening skills. Here are sometechniques to improve our awareness during the listening process

Stop Talking! You cannot listen if you are speaking.

Approachthelisteningexperience from a state ofcalm.To becentered is to be calm at a very deep level, to be without agendas

or predispositions as to the outcome, and to be open toexperience. Centeredness is a prerequisite to truly open listening.It sets the stage

for the points below.

Help put the speaker at ease try to remain open- minded,accept the person and his/her feelings, and show that you trust theperson enough to avoid interfering. Create a relaxed environment

. Never rule out any topic of discussion as uninteresting.Creative people are always on the lookout for new information.

While some conversations may be inane, its wise to make surethe subject is not worthwhile before tuning out.

Demonstratethatyou wantto listen stay alert by standing orsitting straight, if sitting lean forward slightly, and maintain eyecontact. Show the speaker you are interested.

Accept the speakers message. On the face of it, this wouldseem to be an argument for gullibilityfor believing almostanything anyone tells you. Its not. The point here is to suspend

judgment during the immediate experience of listening. Inaccepting as is, youre not making a determination as to the truthor falsity of the statement, youre

simply acknowledging exactly what the speaker is sayingright orwrong, good or bad, true or false. This capacity for totalacceptance frees the mind to listen for other clues, for example ...


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Remove distractions this includes your preoccupations,daydreaming, and presumptions, as well as environmentaldistractions. Don't doodle, tap, shuffle paper, use the computer.Shut the door, turn off the television.

Listen forthe whole message.One estimate has it that 75% ofall communication is non-verbal. If you take away the words,whats left? Plenty, it turns out. Beyond the words themselves is ahost of clues as to what the speaker is communicating. Someexamples: posture (rigid or relaxed, closed or open); facialexpression (does it support the words?); hands (clenched, open,relaxed, tense?); eyes (does the speaker maintain eye contact?);voice tone (does it match the words?); movement (are thespeakers movements intense, relaxed, congruent (with themessage) or conflicting; do they suggest that the whole speech is

staged?) What youre looking for here are inconsistenciesbetween what is said and what is really meant, clues that tell youthe spoken message isnt really genuine. Get the idea?

Practice Active Listening ask questions, seek clarification,reflect the speakers feelings, and periodically summarize. Askquestions! This encourages others & shows you are listening whiledeveloping ideas further.

Dontget hung up on the speakers delivery. Then there are

factors that simply reveal an awkwardness in delivery rather thanany attempt to mislead. The key is being able to distinguishbetween the two. Its easy to get turned off when someone speakshaltingly, has an irritating voice, or just doesnt come across well.The key to good listening, however, is to get beyond the manner ofdelivery to the underlying message. In order for this to happen, youhave to resolve not to judge the message by the delivery style. Itsamazing how much more clearly you can hear once youve madethe decision to really listen rather than to criticize.

Empathize

seek first to understand the speakers words, intent,and feelings. Try avoiding autobiographical responses, a.k.a.

relating the information to your self, because it has a tendency tomake others feel like their message isnt unique. Try to see theother person's point of view.

Avoid structured listening. Its popular among somecommunications teachers to recommend a format for listening,


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either in the form of questions (What is the speakers main point?What is he/she really saying?) or key words (e.g., purpose,evidence, intent). The problem with this approach is that it createsa dialogue of noise in the listeners mind which interferes with clearreception. Better to operate from the openness of the centered

state (above) and receive the information just as it comes, withoutany attempt to structure or judge it. Think of your mind as similar tothe central processing unit of a computer in which the data comesin and is stored without change, available for subsequent access.

Be patient Do not interrupt. Allow plenty of time, do not interrupt,do not ever walk away. If the conversation becomes heated,reschedule another time to sit down.

Tune out distractions. Poor listeners are distracted byinterruptions; good listeners tune them out and focus on thespeaker and the message. Its a discipline that lends itself tospecific techniques for maintaining ones focus. Here are somethings that will help: Maintain eye contact with the speaker; leanforward in your chair; let the speakers words ring in your ears;and turn in your chair, if necessary, to block out unwanteddistractions.

Acknowledge Criticism, but dontReact if the speaker offers

criticism, seek to absorb it and acknowledge that it has beenoffered, but avoid becoming defensive or angry. If you decide inadvance not to become defensive, then there is no need to thinkabout your own plan of attack (i.e. counter arguments, excuses,denial), and there is more

time to listen to the speaker.

Go easy onarguments & criticism. This attitude will put otherson the defensive, making communication difficult.

Bea

lertto yourown prejudices.This goes along with #3 above,but its so important that you may want to think specifically about

the impact of your prejudices on your ability to really hear whatsbeing communicated. Often, we are unaware how strongly ourprejudices influence our willingness and ability to hear. The fact is:any prejudice,

valid or not, tends to obscure the message.


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Resist the temptation to rebut. Why is it that, when we hearsomeone saying something with which we strongly disagree, weimmediately begin mentally formulating a rebuttal? Many reasons,but one of the most common is our natural tendency to resist anynew information that conflicts with what we believe. Keep in mind:

you can always rebut later, when youve heard the whole messageand had time to think about it.

Takenotes sparingly.The world seems to be split between thosewho take prolific notes and those who take few or none, with eachside equally strong in its position. I come down toward the latterview for this reason: the more focused you are on writing downwhat is being said, the more likely you are to miss the nuances ofthe conversation. There

are two good ways around this dilemma. You can write down only

key words and then, after the conversation, meeting, etc., go backand fill in, or you can take notes pictorially, that is, by diagrammingwhat the speaker is saying. Its a technique called, mindmappingand it was first popularized by a writer named Tony Buzan wellover a decade ago in a book entitled, Use Your Head. You maywant to look up his books; hes

written several.

Stop Talking!First & last, this is most important!

Barriers to Listening

20. Although you might agree that listening is important,you may notbe properly prepared for effective listening. A survey conducted by acorporate training and development firm noted that 80% of corporateexecutives taking part in the survey rated listening as the most importantskill in the workforce. Unfortunately, nearly 30% of those sameexecutives said that listening was the most lacking communication skillamong their employees (Salopek, 1999). In the section explaining theconnection between listening and thinking we discussed several naturalimpediments to listening. In this section we explain barriers we create forourselves in the listening process. Table 5.1 identifies noise, perceptionsof others, and yourself as potential listening

Problems in Active Listening


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21. Active listening is not an easy skill to acquire. It demands practice.Perhaps more important, it may require changes in our own basicattitudes. These changes come slowly and sometimes with considerabledifficulty. Let us look at some of the major problems in active listening

and what can be done to overcome them. To be effective at all in activelistening, one must have a sincere interest in the speaker. We all live inglass houses as far as our attitudes are concerned. They always showthrough. And if we are only making a pretense of interest in the speaker.he will quickly pick this up, either consciously or unconsciously. Andonce he does, he will no longer express himself freely. Active listeningcarries a strong element of personal risk. If we manage to accomplishwhat we are describing hereto sense deeply the feeling of anotherperson, to understand the meaning his experiences have for him, to seethe world as he sees itwe risk being changed ourselves To get the

meaning which life has for himwe risk coming to see the world as hesees it. It is threatening to give up, even momentarily, what we believeand start thinking in someone elses terms. It takes a great deal of innersecurity and courage to be able to risk ones self in understandinganother. We are so accustomed to viewing ourselves in certain waystoseeing and hearing only what we want to see and hearthat it isextremely difficult for a person to free himself from his needs to seethings these ways. To do this may sometimes be unpleasant, but it is farmore difficult than unpleasant. Developing an attitude of sincere interestin the speaker is thus no easy task. It can be developed only by being

willing to risk seeing the world from the speakers point of view. If wehave a number of such experiences, however, they will shape anattitude which will allow us to be truly genuine in our interest in thespeaker.


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Some Characteristics ofactivelisteners

22. How Can You BecomeaBetterListener? we have emphasizedthe importance of listening while at the same time pointing out bothnatural and self-taught barriers to effective listening. Faced with thisknowledge, you might wonder how any of us can hope to becomeeffective listeners. After all, the potential barriers are many. Fortunately,each of us can take several steps to overcome these barriers to good


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listening by listening critically and using verbal and nonverbalcommunication effectively.

23. Listenand Think Critically Critical listening and critical thinking

go hand in hand: You cannot listen critically without also thinkingcritically. We have already noted that critical listening is a form of activelistening in which you carefully analyze the accuracy, meaningfulness,and utility of a speakers message . Similarly, criticalthinkinginvolvesanalyzing the speaker, the situation, and the speakers ideas to makecritical judgments about the message being presented. Although wediscuss critical thinking in terms of its relationship to critical listening, youalso use critical thinking when reading, watching television, or analyzingthe ingredients of a tasty meal. One way to think critically is to analyzethe communication situation, or the context in which communication is

occurring. One of our students recently attended a job interview for aposition requiring excellent public-speaking skills. As a communicationmajor she was excited about this job prospect. At the interview shefound herself surrounded by nearly 50 other applicants. During apresentation she learned that the company sold natural products likefiltered water, organic toothpaste, and even chemical-free moist wipesfor babies. Through a little critical thinking and listening, she quicklyfigured out that the company was actually a type of pyramid scheme andthe interview was an attempt to get her to purchase bulk quantities ofthe products and then market those products to her friends and family.

The people explaining the products were indeed experts, but heranalysis of the situation told her that this job was not the one for her.The second strategy for engaging in critical listening and thinking is tocarefully analyze the speakers ideas. The first skill is to identifysupporting material When analyzing the message, a good starting pointis to determine whether the speaker is using evidence from othersources to support main points.Does the speaker identify the source(s)?Are the sources recognizable as qualified experts on the topic?Do the sources have any potential bias that would diminish their

credibility?We view these questions as essential for effective critical listening,especially given the frequent use of Internet sources by speakers.Third, you need to determine whether speakers are describing thingsthat they have seen themselves or presenting conclusions that theyhave drawn themselves, or are reporting the descriptions andconclusions of others. The distinctions between these concepts involve


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the differences between first-person and third-person observations andinferences. To recognize these differences you should do the following:

Distinguish between observations and inferences. Observationsare descriptions based on phenomena that can be sensedseen,

heard, tasted, smelled, or felt. Inferences are generalizations fromor about information you have received through your senses. Youmight observe that a number of people who are homeless live inyour community. Based on that observation, you might infer thatyour community does not have enough affordable housing.Observations are more likely to be agreed upon by observers;inferences vary widely in terms of agreement between individuals(Brooks & Heath, 1989).

Distinguish between first-person and second-person observations

A first-person observation is based on something that waspersonally sensed; a second person observation is a report ofwhat another person observed. First-person observations aretypically more accurate because they are direct accounts ratherthan inferences drawn from others accounts.

24. A final skill in critical listening is to analyze the credibility of thespeaker.Source credibility is the extent to which the speaker isperceived as competent to make the claims he or she is making. If youwanted to know what procedures were required to study in Europe for a

semester, who would give you the best information? Would you be morelikely to trust your roommate, who heard about foreign exchangeprograms during freshman orientation; your adviser, who had anexchange student a few years back; or the director of internationalprograms on your campus? If your car ran poorly, would you trust yourneighbours advice or that of an auto mechanic? The choice seemsobvious in these situations. When assessing the credibility of a speaker,you should determine whether the speaker has qualifications, whetherthe speaker has experience, and whether the speaker has any evidentbias or ulterior motive for taking a certain position. As you can see,

critical listeners must evaluate several aspects of the communicationsituation, the speakers message, and even the speakers credibility.Critical thinking and listening are skills that each of us can develop withpractice. The next time you hear a classmate present information, ateacher lecture on a concept, or a friend discuss options for eveningentertainment, you have a perfect opportunity to practice critical thinkingand listening. As with any skill, diligent practice now allow those skills tobecome automatic in the future.


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Use Verbal Communication Effectively

25. The notion of verbal components of listening may seem strange to

you. You may reason that if you are engaged in listening, you cannotalso be speaking. However, transactional communication assumes thatyou are simultaneously a sender and a receiver. That is, you can makeverbal responses even as you are deeply involved in listening. Todetermine your current competence in this area, consider the skills youregularly practice:

Invite additional comments. Suggest that the speaker add moredetails or give additional information. Phrases such as Go on,What else? How did you feel about that? and Did anything else

occur? encourage the speaker to continue to share ideas andinformation.

Ask questions. One method of inviting the speaker to continue is toask direct questions, requesting more in-depth details, definitions,or clarification.

Identify areas of agreement or common experience. Briefly relatesimilar past experiences, or briefly explain a similar point of viewthat you hold. Sharing ideas, attitudes, values, and beliefs is the

basis of communication. In addition, such comments demonstrateyour understanding.

Vary verbal responses. Use a variety of responses, such as Yes,I see, Go on, and Right instead of relying on one standard,unaltered response, such as Yes, Yes, Yes.

Provide clear verbal responses. Use specific and concrete wordsand phrases in your feedback to the speaker. Misunderstandingscan occur if you do not provide easily understood responses.

Use descriptive, nonevaluative responses. Better to say Yourstatistics are from an organization that is biased against guncontrol (descriptive) than to say Your speech was a bunch of lies(evaluative). Trivializing or joking about serious disclosuressuggests a negative evaluation of the speaker. Similarly,offensive. Acting superior to the speaker by stating that you


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believe you have a more advanced understanding suggests anevaluative tone.

Provide affirmative and affirming statements. Comments such asYes, I see, I understand, and I know provide affirmation.

Offering praise and specific positive statements demonstratesconcern.

Avoid complete silence. The lack of any response suggests thatyou are not listening to the speaker. The silent treatment inducedby sleepiness or lack of interest may result in defensiveness oranger on the part of the speaker.Appropriate verbal feedbackdemonstrates your active listening.

Allow the other person the opportunity of a complete hearing.

When you discuss common feelings or experiences, avoiddominating the conversation. Allow the other person to go intodepth and detail; give him or her the option of changing the topicunder discussion; and let him or her talk without being interrupted.

Use Nonverbal Communication Effectively

26. Although you demonstrate active listening through verbal skills, themajority of your active-listening ability is shown through nonverbal

communication. The following nonverbal skills are essential to yourability to demonstrate active listening. As you listen to another person,have a friend observe you to determine if you are practicing these skills.

Demonstrate bodily responsiveness. Use movement and gesturesto show your awareness of the speakers message. Shaking yourhead in disbelief, checking the measurements of an object byindicating the size with your hands, and moving toward a person

who is disclosing negative information are appropriate bodilyresponses.

Lean forward. By leaning toward the speaker, you demonstrateinterest in the speaker. A forward lean suggests responsivenessas well as interest. In addition, leaning places you in a physicalstate of readiness to listen to the speaker.


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Use direct body orientation. Do not angle yourself away from thespeaker; instead, sit or stand so that you are directly facing him orher. A parallel body position allows the greatest possibility forobserving and listening to the speakers verbal and nonverbalmessages. When you stand or sit at an angle to the speaker, you

may be creating the impression that you are attempting to getaway or that you are moving away from the speaker. An angledposition also blocks your vision and allows you to be distracted byother stimuli in the environment

.Maintain relaxed but alert posture. Your posture should not be

tense or proper, but neither should it be so relaxed that youappear to be resting. Slouching suggests unresponsiveness; atense body position suggests nervousness or discomfort; and arelaxed position accompanied by crossed arms and legs, a

backward lean in a chair, and a confident facial expressionsuggests arrogance. Your posture should suggest to others thatyou are interested and that you are comfortable talking with them.

Establish an open body position. Sit or stand with your body opento the other person. Crossing your arms or legs may be morecomfortable, but that posture frequently suggests that you areclosed off psychologically as well asphysically. In order tomaximize your nonverbal message to the other person that youare open to him or her, you should sit or stand without crossing

your arms or legs.

Use positive, responsive facial expressions and head movement.Your face and head will be the speakers primary focus. Thespeaker will be observing you, and your facial expressions andhead movement will be the key. You can demonstrate your interestby nodding your head to show interest or agreement. You can usepositive and responsive facial expressions, such as smiling andraising your eyebrows.

E

stablish direct eye contact. The speaker will be watching youreyes for interest. One of the first signs of a lack of interest is thetendency to be distracted by other stimuli in the environment. Forexample, an instructor who continually glances out the door of heroffice, a roommate who sneaks peeks at the television programthat is on, or a business executive who regularly looks at his watchis, while appearing to listen, indicating lack of interest. Try to focuson and direct your gaze at the speaker. When you begin to look


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around the room, you may find any number of other stimuli todistract your attention from the speaker and the message.

Sit or stand close to the speaker. Establishing close proximity tothe speaker has two benefits. First, you put yourself in a position

that allows you to hear the other person and that minimizesdistracting noises, sights, and other stimuli. Second, youdemonstrate your concern or your positive feelings for the speaker.You probably do not stand or sit close to people you do not like orrespect, or with whom you do not have common experiences.Close physical proximity enables active listening.

Be vocally responsive. Change your pitch, rate, inflection, andvolume as you respond to the speaker. Making appropriatechanges and choices shows that you are actually listening, in

contrast to responding in a standard, patterned manner thatsuggests you are only appearing to listen. The stereotypic pictureof a husband and wife at the breakfast table, with the husband,hidden behind a newspaper, responding, Yes, yes, yes in amonotone while the wife tells him that their son has shaved hishead, she is running off with the mail carrier, and the house is onfire provides a familiar example of the appearance of listeningwhile one is actually oblivious to the speakers message.

Provide supportive utterances. Sometimes you can demonstrate

more concern through nonverbal sounds such as Mmm, Mmm-hmm, and Uh-huh than you can by stating Yes, I understand.You can easily provide supportive utterances while others aretalking or when they pause. You are suggesting to them that youare listening but do not want to interrupt with a verbalization ofyour own at this particular time. Such sounds encourage thespeaker to continue without interruption

Effective Listening in Different Situations

27. Listening in theWorkplace As our nation has shifted from anindustrial-based economy to an information-based economy, effectivelistening has become recognized as an essential skill for workers.Statistics from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics show that by 2014 just


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under 80% of the workforce in the United States will be employed inservice-oriented industries like education, health care, retail sales, andstate and local government (Berman, 2005). These jobs all have onething in common they require employeecustomer interaction in whichlistening skills translate into revenue. To become a more effective

listener in professional situations, you need to apply several of thesuggestions mentioned previously. Jennifer Salopek (1999), thepresident of a corporate training firm, suggests that you do the following:

Be aware of when you are not listening.

Monitor your nonverbal behaviors to determine whether you aregiving appropriate feedback to the speaker.

Hear people out and minimize interruptions.

Learn to ask nonaggressive questions to elicit more informationfrom the speaker.

Summarize what the person said, and check to make sure youunderstand correctly.

effective listeners must understand not only what their customersare saying but also what they are feeling. Those who do thiseffectively are able to build stronger relationships with customers

and clients.

28. Listening inthe Classroom Take a moment to think about howoften, as a student, you find yourself listening to a lecture. If you were toestimate how much of your time is spent listening to lectures, how muchwould it be? If you said a lot, you would not be alone. Researchershave estimated that college students spend at least 10 hours per weekattending lectures (Anderson & Armbruster, 1986). If you take a typicalcredit/hour load, that 10 hours per week translates into about 80% of

your time in class being spent listening to lectures (Armbruster, 2000What constitutes effective lecture listening? Although a variety ofanswers have been offered, educational researcher Michael Gilbert(1988) provides the following general suggestions:

Find areas of interest in what you are listening to. Constantly lookfor how you can use the information.


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Remain open.Avoid the temptation to focus only on the lecturersdelivery; withhold evaluative judgments until the lecture hasfinished; recognize your emotional triggers and avoid letting themdistract you.

Work at listening. Capitalize on your minds ability to think fasterthan the lecturer can talk. Mentally summarize and review whathas been said, mentally organize information, and find connectionsto what you already know or are currently learning.

Avoid letting distractions distract. Monitor your attention andrecognize when it is waning. If you are becoming distracted,refocus your attention on the lecturer.

Listen for and note main ideas. Focus on the central themes of

what is being presented, and make notes about those themes.Effective notes outlining the main ideas of a lecture can, in somecases, be more useful than pages of notes containing unorganizeddetails.

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