English Midterm Assignment
I am me
Chapter7.pptxListening and Responding
Chapter 7
University of Colorado Denver
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Listening
Listening may be the most important skill in the communication process
First communication skill we learn
Hearing: the physical process of having your eardrum vibrate in response to sound waves (automatic)
Listening: reconstructing the electrochemical impulses and giving them meaning
Listening isn’t automatic
Importance of Listening
It can lead to improved cognition, improved academic performance, enhanced professional performance, and better health
Not listening acts as a barrier in interpersonal communication
It also impacts your relationship with the speaker
What Is Listening?
“The process of receiving, constructing meaning from, and responding to spoken verbal and/or nonverbal messages”
Four stages
Sensing/Hearing
Understanding
Evaluating
Responding
Four Stages
1. Sensing/Hearing
Limiting multitasking
Elevating attention
1. Develop awareness of your attention level
2. Take note of encounters in which you should listen carefully
3. Consider optimal level of attention required
4. Compare the level of attention you observed in yourself versus the level of attention that is required
5. Elevate your attention to the point necessary
Four Stages
2. Understanding
3. Evaluating
4. Responding
Communicating attention and understanding
Giving feedback: Communicating this while you are listening
Giving back channel cues
Make feedback obvious
Make feedback appropriate
Make feedback clear
Provide feedback quickly
Influences on Listening
1) Individual identity characteristics also influence listening
Gender
Age
Nationality/Culture
Listening Styles
Listening Styles
Listening Styles – the way people prefer to take in information
Action-oriented – organized, error-free
Informational listening skills; Have a preference for well organized information and want to do something with the information they hear.
Content-oriented – detailed, complex info
Critical listening skills; Handle listening to complex information and evaluating it well
People-oriented – thoughts, feelings, connections
Supportive listening skills; Have concern for others feelings and interested in personal information and common areas of interest
Time-oriented – brief, concise (bullet point)
We are all a combination of every listening style but you may see more of yourself in one style than others
To be competent, you must use all four styles of listening so you can strategically deploy them as needed.
Take your cues from the person you are talking to
Women – relational and content
Men – action and time
Take your cues from the person you are talking to
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What’s the right way to listen?
Think about the situation, match it
Consider what the other person wants/expects from you
Choose a style that fits the person
Be self-reflexive: What are your tendencies? What are your strengths? Weaknesses?
Action Listening Skills (Informational listening)
Your goal is to understand the information and potentially carve out a plan or determine how a task will be accomplished
Enhancing action listening
Mentally organize and link information even if it has been done for you!
Personalize information as you listen
Take notes
Ask questions and paraphrase information to check understanding
Content Listening Skills (Critical listening)
Similar to action but we are also focusing on the credibility of the arguments or statements being made
Trying not to blindly accept information presented to us
Does the speaker provide evidence to back up claims?
Does the speaker have an awareness of multiple sides of an issue or concept?
Enhancing critical listening
If possible, research before making decisions or accepting claims
Evaluating while the speaker presents
Asking questions and paraphrasing to check understanding
People Listening Skills (Supportive listening)
Goal is to attend to individual’s feelings. Empathic focus.
Enhancing people listening skills
Use supportive responses
If appropriate use interpreting responses
Does individual need a sounding board?
Try to word responses as questions rather than fact
Use both content and feeling paraphrasing to ensure you are correctly hearing the information they are providing and the emotions they are attaching
Try to avoid judging or advice responses
Barriers to Listening
Physical and physiological
Noise
Fatigue
Disability
Psychological
Boredom
Preoccupation
Personal agenda
Strong emotion
Conflicting Objectives
Poor Listening Habits
Selective listening
Pseudo listening/Wandering
Rejecting/Tuning Out
Predicting
Rehearsing
Aggressive listening
Narcissistic listening
Active listening is listening and responding to improve mutual understanding
It prevents preemptively forming responses while we listen
It involves:
focusing your attention on the other person
tailoring your listening to the situation
and letting others know you understand them
Questioning
To clarify, learn about wants and feelings, to encourage elaboration and discovery, gather more information through sincere questions
Empathizing
Perspective taking, emotional contagion, and genuine concern (from your perspective)
Supporting
Agreement, offer to help, praise, reassurance, diversion
Repeat back to individuals (thoughts & feelings from their perspective)
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Other Types of Listening Responses
Evaluating – doesn’t always work
Appraisal in favorable or unfavorable way
May result in defensiveness
Advising – doesn’t always work
Is it needed? Is it wanted? Right time? From right person? Face-saving?
How much advice do you give in a day?
The individual, listening, and society: The social hierarchy
We evaluate whether or not someone is “worth” listening to, based on social hierarchy cues
Social status
Physical appearance
Vocal cues
Ethics and Listening
Choosing to listen or not to listen to others in general
Choosing the amount of feedback you offer
Choosing to consume or not to consume mediated information not intended for you
Choosing to cut yourself off from listening to your immediate environment
Choosing to listen selectively
Choosing not to listen to certain public voices
Choosing to listen as a community
Improving Your Listening Skills
Take an honest inventory of your listening behaviors
Identify any poor listening habits
Strive for mindful listening by:
desiring to hear the whole message
eliminating noisy barriers,
being willing to place your agenda lower on your priority list than the speaker’s
Last slide for Tuesdays class
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Active Listening
Active Listening
Listening and responding to improve mutual understanding
Involves both verbal and nonverbal behaviors
Verbal: Asking for clarifying information, paraphrasing, asking questions, checking perception
Nonverbal: Nodding, making eye contact, being engaged actively with your physical body.
Prevents preemptively forming responses while we listen
Focuses the attention on the speaker
Enhances attentiveness, reduces miscommunication, opens conversation
Because we must spend our energy concentrating on what the speaker is saying so that we can paraphrase it back it prevents combative back and forth
Providing Feedback
Make sure to describe your interpretation of the message Should not be about the identity of the person necessarily but about what that person has just communicated to you
Be descriptive, not evaluative. Making a judgment without a solution will not advance any goal
Make sure your feedback is well timed and given in the right place
