Chapter 4: Listen to Me!
Hearing Verses Listening
Hearing: An involuntary physical process similar to breathing. You can't control what you hear or not, because it is the actual sound waves hitting your eardrum, sending messages to your brain.
Listening: A conscious mental process where your brain is fully involved so that you concentrate on, interpret, and react to what you hear.
4 Levels of Listening:
1. Hearing: Sound waves hit your eardrums
2. Attending: Focusing your attention on a single sound
3. Understanding: Communication begins when you concentrate on what is being said and why
4. Remembering: Hardest to attain. The listener understands what is being said and then absorbs the information into personal knowledge.
Listening: A conscious mental process where your brain is fully involved so that you concentrate on, interpret, and react to what you hear.
4 Levels of Listening:
1. Hearing: Sound waves hit your eardrums
2. Attending: Focusing your attention on a single sound
3. Understanding: Communication begins when you concentrate on what is being said and why
4. Remembering: Hardest to attain. The listener understands what is being said and then absorbs the information into personal knowledge.
Improving Your Listening Skills
General Principles for Listening:
1. Prepare to Listen: You know yourself, so prepare so that you won't be distracted. If your distracted easily by windows, friends, or your phone. Remove those distractions in preparation for uninterrupted listening.
2. Look for Signposts: Words like first, next, and finally give clues as to the structure of the speech. Following these clues, as well as repeated phrases, nonverbal clues, and words such as most importantly, will help you to understand the structure and meaning of the speech.
3. Respond to the Speaker: Try to be the one in the audience who is going to give the speaker feedback. Use your body language to show interest, approval, or confusion. If the speaker wants a verbal response, be the one who cooperates without being obnoxious. By engaging in a non-verbal response, your body and mind stay actively engaged in the message.
4: Concentrate on the Message: The speaker can be distracting, so focus on what the speaker is saying. Instead of judging the speaker, evaluate what he or she is saying. Don't count how many times they say "um," don't think of how you would make over their style, and don't be distracted by the gestures or mistakes.
5. Listen to the End: Don't be tempted to stop listening because you don't agree with the speaker, you already know something about the topic, or you think that you'll never understand it. If you disagree, write down questions and counter arguments. If you know something, than listen for information that may be new to you. If you don't understand, write down questions to ask after the speaker has finished.
1. Prepare to Listen: You know yourself, so prepare so that you won't be distracted. If your distracted easily by windows, friends, or your phone. Remove those distractions in preparation for uninterrupted listening.
2. Look for Signposts: Words like first, next, and finally give clues as to the structure of the speech. Following these clues, as well as repeated phrases, nonverbal clues, and words such as most importantly, will help you to understand the structure and meaning of the speech.
3. Respond to the Speaker: Try to be the one in the audience who is going to give the speaker feedback. Use your body language to show interest, approval, or confusion. If the speaker wants a verbal response, be the one who cooperates without being obnoxious. By engaging in a non-verbal response, your body and mind stay actively engaged in the message.
4: Concentrate on the Message: The speaker can be distracting, so focus on what the speaker is saying. Instead of judging the speaker, evaluate what he or she is saying. Don't count how many times they say "um," don't think of how you would make over their style, and don't be distracted by the gestures or mistakes.
5. Listen to the End: Don't be tempted to stop listening because you don't agree with the speaker, you already know something about the topic, or you think that you'll never understand it. If you disagree, write down questions and counter arguments. If you know something, than listen for information that may be new to you. If you don't understand, write down questions to ask after the speaker has finished.
Listen to Understand
Listening to a Friend:
We've all experienced how a friend simply listening to us can be so helpful. We've also probably experienced when a friend has been distracted, interuptive, and all too willing to change the subject. Practicing good listening skills should start with your friends. By following the general principles of listening, you can be a supportive friend and hone your skills that will be useful while listening to public speakers.
Listening to Understand: Take Notes!
You listen everyday. As a student, it's part of your job. But if we are not able to understand what is being communicated to us, there is no communication happening. When a speaker organized information, they do it so that their goal will become clear to the listener. Good note taking is an important skill in identifying the speaker's organization and determining the meaning of their presentation.
1. Prepare: When taking notes, have everything ready ahead of time: pens, paper, your book open. This will help you to begin as soon as the speaker does.
2. Examine: Try to figure out the structure of the speech you are listening to. Use that structure to for the outline as you take notes. This will help you to discern between important and less important information.
3. Listen or Write: Don't try to do them at the same time. Listen, and then write down short, paraphrased statements about the content or meaning of the speech. Don't try to get every word down on paper.
4. Review: After the speaker has finished, review your notes. Use them as a guideline to remembering the speech. This will help you to absorb more of the information and commit it to memory.
5. Revise: As you review, add in things that you forgot or revise for clarity. If your planning on using you notes later as a tool to help you remember, make sure that you leave yourself a good reminder.
We've all experienced how a friend simply listening to us can be so helpful. We've also probably experienced when a friend has been distracted, interuptive, and all too willing to change the subject. Practicing good listening skills should start with your friends. By following the general principles of listening, you can be a supportive friend and hone your skills that will be useful while listening to public speakers.
Listening to Understand: Take Notes!
You listen everyday. As a student, it's part of your job. But if we are not able to understand what is being communicated to us, there is no communication happening. When a speaker organized information, they do it so that their goal will become clear to the listener. Good note taking is an important skill in identifying the speaker's organization and determining the meaning of their presentation.
1. Prepare: When taking notes, have everything ready ahead of time: pens, paper, your book open. This will help you to begin as soon as the speaker does.
2. Examine: Try to figure out the structure of the speech you are listening to. Use that structure to for the outline as you take notes. This will help you to discern between important and less important information.
3. Listen or Write: Don't try to do them at the same time. Listen, and then write down short, paraphrased statements about the content or meaning of the speech. Don't try to get every word down on paper.
4. Review: After the speaker has finished, review your notes. Use them as a guideline to remembering the speech. This will help you to absorb more of the information and commit it to memory.
5. Revise: As you review, add in things that you forgot or revise for clarity. If your planning on using you notes later as a tool to help you remember, make sure that you leave yourself a good reminder.