2. Chapter 6: Record Research suggests that we spend almost 70% of our waking time communicating, and 53% of that time is spent in listening situations Effective listening skills can mean the difference between success or failure
3. The Difference Between Listening and Hearing Listening is a learned, voluntary activity; you must choose to do it Hearing is not learned; it is automatic and involuntary Hearing a sound does not guarantee that you know what it is or what made it Listening actively, though, means making a conscious effort to focus on the sound and to determine what it is
4. Listening Defined The Chinese view of listening is a whole body experience To the Chinese, listening involves the ears, the eyes, undivided attention and the heart The first step in listening is hearing but true listening, involves one’s full attention and the ability to filter out distractions, emotional barriers, cultural differences and religious biases
5. Listening Defined (cont’d) We can define listening on 3 levels: 1) Listening with a purpose, 2) Listening objectively and 3) Listening constructively Listening with a purpose: means listening with an open mind Listening constructively: listening with the attitude: “How can this be helpful to my life, my education, my career, or my finances?” This type of listening involves evaluating the info you are hearing and determining whether it has meaning to your life
6. Barriers to Listening 1) Prejudging: automatically shutting out what is being said How to overcome this barrier: listen for info that may be valuable to you as a student, listen to the message, not the messenger, and try to remove cultural, racial, gender, social and environmental barriers 2) Talking (need to learn the power of silence, silence gives you the opportunity to think about what is being said before you respond) How to overcome this barrier: avoid interrupting the speaker, ask someone a question and then allow the person to answer the question, concentrate on what is being said at the moment, not what you want to say next
7. Barriers to Listening (cont’d) 3) Becoming too emotional (worries, problems, fears, and anger can keep you from listening to the best of your ability) How to overcome this barrier: know how you feel before you begin the listening experience, take stock of your emotions and feelings ahead of time, focus on the message; determine how to use the information, create a positive image about the message you are hearing, avoid overreacting or jumping to conclusions
8. Listening for Key Words, Phrases, and Hints Here are some key phrases and words to listen for: in addition, most important, another way, such as, in comparison, to illustrate, on the other hand, above all, specifically, finally, as stated earlier, because, you’ll see this again Listen carefully when the professor does things such as writes something on the board, uses an overhead, uses computer aided graphics, speaks in a louder tone or changes vocal patterns, uses gestures more than usual, draws on a flip chart
9. Why Take Notes? You become an active part of the listening process You create history of your course content when you take notes You have written criteria to follow when studying You create a visual aid for your material Studying becomes much easier
10. The L Star System L: Listening- sit near the front of the room where you can hear the professor and see the board or overheads S: Setting it Down- Develop a short hand system for writing notes T: Translating- After each class, go to the library or some other quiet place and review your notes; rewrite and translate your classroom notes A: Analyzing- When you analyze your notes, you are asking two basic questions: 1) What does this mean? And 2) Why is it important? R: Remember- time to study or remember the information; some effective ways to remember info include creating a visual picture, speaking the notes out loud, using mnemonic devices, and finding a study partner
