1. PowerPoint Presentation to accompany Looking Out, Looking In, Tenth Edition
Chapter 7: Listening: More Than Meets the Ear
Presentation prepared by Dr. Michael Pearson, Gretchen Gill, and Tim Scanlon of West Chester University
Copyright © 2002 Thomson Learning, Inc. Thomson Learning™ is a trademark used herein under license.
For permission to use material from this text, contact us by:
Phone: Fax:
Web: 1

2. CHAPTER 7
Listening:
More Than Meets the Ear 2

3. Listening: More Than Meets the Ear Gender and Listening
Elements in the Listening Process
Gender and Listening
Types of Ineffective listening
Why We Don’t Listen Better
Informational Listening
Listening to Help 3

4. Elements in the Listening Process
Listening - is a process that consists of five elements: hearing, attending, understanding, responding, and remembering
Hearing
Hearing - the physiological dimension of listening
Attending
Attending - the process of filtering out some messages
and focusing on others 4

5. Elements in the Listening Process
Understanding
Understanding - occurs when we make sense of a
message
Responding
Responding - giving observable feedback to the speaker
Remembering
Remembering - the ability to recall information 5

6. Gender and Listening Social Influences
Western culture defines different
roles for men and women.
When men and women deviate from
expectations dictated by their social
roles, the results can be problematic.
Biological Influences
A recent study demonstrated
physiological differences in brain
activity between men and women
during listening.

7. Types Of Ineffective Listening
Pseudolistening
Pseudolistening - an imitation of real listening; listener gives appearance of being attentive
Stage-hogging
Stage-hogging - try to turn the topic of conversations to
themselves instead of showing interest in the speaker
Selective Listening
Selective Listening - respond only to the parts of your
remarks that interest them, rejecting everything else 6

8. Types Of Ineffective Listening
Insulated Listening
Insulated listeners - instead of looking for something, these people avoid it
Defensive Listening
Defensive listeners - take others’ remarks as personal
attacks 7

9. Types Of Ineffective Listening
Ambushing
Ambushing - listen carefully to you, but only to collect
information to attack what you say
Insensitive Listening
Insensitive listeners - are not able to look beyond the
words and behavior to understand their hidden meanings 8

10. Why We Don’t Listen Better
Message Overload
The amount of speech most of us encounter every day
makes careful listening to everything we hear
impossible.
Preoccupation
When one is wrapped up in personal concerns that are
more important than the messages others are sending
Rapid Thought
A person’s brain can process more information than
he/she can speak, therefore leading to “spare time.” 9

11. Why We Don’t Listen Better
Effort
Listening effectively is hard work.
External Noise
The physical world in which we live often presents
distractions from the speaker.
Rapid Thought
Sometimes a person’s listening ability suffers from a
physiological hearing problem. 10

12. Why We Don’t Listen Better
Faulty Assumptions
Often we make incorrect assumptions that lead us to believe we’re listening attentively when quite the opposite is true.
Lack of Apparent Advantages
It often appears that we have more to gain by speaking
than by listening. 11

13. Why We Don’t Listen Better
Lack of Training
Even if we want to listen well, we are often hampered
by a lack of training.
Media Influences
The trend of short segmented programming in our
media discourages the kind of focused attention that
is necessary for careful listening. 12

14. Informational Listening
Talk Less
Get Rid of Distractions
Don’t Judge Prematurely
Look for Key Ideas
Ask Questions
Paraphrase 13

15. Informational Listening
Ask Questions
Sincere questions - aimed at understanding others
Counterfeit questions – aimed at sending a message,
not receiving one
Types of Counterfeit Questions
Questions that trap the speaker
Questions that make statements
Questions that carry hidden agendas
Questions that seek “correct” answers
Questions based on unchecked assumptions 14

16. Informational Listening
Paraphrase
Paraphrasing/Active listening - statements that reword
the listener’s interpretation of a message
Types of Paraphrasing Statements
Change the speaker’s wording
Offer an example of what you think the speaker
is talking about
Reflect the underlying theme of the speaker’s
remarks 15

17. Listening to Help Advising Judging Analyzing
Advising response - to help by offering a solution
Judging
Judging response - evaluates the sender’s thoughts or
behaviors in some way
Analyzing
Analyzing statement - the listener offers an
interpretation of a speaker’s message 16

18. Listening to Help Questioning
Questioning response - helps others think about their
problems and understand them more clearly
The best questioning follows these principles:
Don’t ask questions just to satisfy your own curiosity.
Be sure that your questions won’t confuse or distract
the person you’re trying to help.
Don’t use questions to disguise your suggestions or
criticism. 17

19. Listening to Help Supporting
Supportive response - reveal a listener’s solidarity with
the speaker’s situation
Types of support include: agreement, offers to help,
praise, reassurance, and diversion.
What effective support doesn’t sound like:
Deny others the right to their feelings.
Minimize the significance of the situation.
Focus on “then and there” rather than “here and now.”
Cast judgment.
Defend yourself.
Rain on the speaker’s parade.

20. Listening to Help Prompting Paraphrasing
Prompting - using silences and brief statements of
encouragement to draw others to speak of their problems
Paraphrasing
Factors to consider before deciding to paraphrase:
Is the problem complex enough?
Do you have the necessary time and concern?
Are you genuinely interested in helping?
Can you withhold judgment?
Is your paraphrasing in proportion to other
responses? 18

21. Listening to Help When and How to Help ?
Three factors used to choose a helping style:
Consider the situation
Think about the other person
Think about yourself 19