IS ANYBODY LISTENING?

What is listening? Lis-ten-ing n (1996, International Listening Association): “the process of receiving, constructing meaning from, and responding to spoken and/or nonverbal messages.”

Why is listening important? But we are only 25% effective as listeners

Levels of listening Level 1 – Empathetic listening Level 2 – Hearing words but not really listening Level 3 – Listening in spurts

Styles of Listening The Faker The Dependent Listener The Interrupter The Self Conscious Listener Intellectual or Logical Listener

HABITS OF THE WORST LISTENERS Call the subject uninteresting Criticize the speaker’s delivery Get over stimulated Listen only for facts Take no notes or note everything Be judgmental

WORST HABITS, CONTINUED Fake attention Fake attention Get distracted Get distracted Avoid difficult listening material Avoid difficult listening material Let emotions block the message Let emotions block the message Waste the time-thought advantage Waste the time-thought advantage Thinking of your answer Thinking of your answer

TIME-THOUGHT ADVANTAGE We listen badly because we are able to think so fast--750 words/min. versus speeches given at 175 words/min. Our minds wander. Use the time advantage to 1. Try to guess the speaker’s next point. 2. Identify the supporting evidence supplied. 3. Engage in a mental recap approx. every 4 minutes to reinforce learning/memory.

BEST HABITS OF THE BEST LISTENERS Search, sift, sort, and store information Concentrate on the message being delivered Get the main ideas Pay attention to the speaker Obtain the principles and ideas and write them down.

BEST HABITS, CONTINUED Recognize and control emotions Eliminate distractions Take advantage of the time-thought differential Don’t finish their thought Don’t start thinking of your response

How do you respond?

A FINAL THOUGHT “The principle of listening, someone has said, is to develop a big ear rather than a big mouth.”--Howard G. and Jeanne Hendricks