To hear is not the same as to listen. This is evident because you can hear without notable awareness, listening. Certainly, at some time in your life you heard the appeal “listen to me” because the speaker may have recognized that you may have been hearing the works but not paying any attention to them. Thus, in listening we not only receive sound through our ears, we also interpret and evaluate sounds so as to respond. In listening we thoughtfully attend to the sounds we hear.

We can only guess about the reasons but our listening ability is quite poor. Since the first published study in 1940 on reading and listening comprehension, the accumulated data shows (1) that 98% of what we learn is channeled to our minds through the eyes and ears; (2) that 80% of our conscious day is spent in communication with 45% of this time involved in listening; (3) that students spend 60% to 70% of their classroom time involved in listening; and (4) that immediately following only a 10 minute presentation, we can recall only 50% and this drops to 25% within the first 48 hours. Thus, in or out of school, we operate at an exceedingly low proficiency listening rate.

Because listening like reading is a skill, you can enhance your listening ability with understanding and practice. First, accept the reality that your listening skills need improvement. The, make a firm commitment to work for that improvement.

The difference in the brain word processing rate, about 625 words per minute, and the spoken word rate, about 125 words per minute, leaves a considerable amount of mental room for whatever deprives us from skillful listening.

The value system and sense of worth that we develop can restrict our opportunity to listen to what really is being said. Our negative reaction to a speaker’s style of dress, actions, manner of speaking, and/or choice of topic can be a cause of poor listening. For whatever reason, if we are overly critical of the speaker, we may not hear the message. Assess yourself. Does faultfinding often interfere with your listening in the course of communication? If so, begin now to earnestly work to put aside this unfortunate practice. Promise yourself to focus on the message rather than on the criticism.

Mental and physical tiredness contribute to poor listening. A commitment to adequate rest, relaxation, and exercise appears to be an obvious remedy for a non-attention state of listening.

Daydreaming, whether topic related or not, for whatever reason is always a distraction which lowers listening proficiency. Unfortunately, we tend to drift into this wondering state without realizing it. As a result, we must work hard at paying attention. We must really want to listen and put forth the effort to do it.
Lastly our tendency to get in our two cents worth may be the habit most difficult to replace. No doubt from the earliest moments of our life, we began learning that we must immediately respond to the sounds we hear. As babies we were expected to coo when our mother cajoled us. Surely, from very early in life we began to realize that conversation required a spontaneous back and forth flow involving speaker and listener. As a result, we spend our effort in thinking about what we will say when it’s our turn to talk rather than fully pay attention to what is being said to us. In other words, as listeners, we may become so wrapped up in out thoughts to give an answer that we do not pick up on the thoughts of the speaker. Be aware!

Begin now. Replace the “get your two cents worth in” habit with a purposeful listening habit. Try to listen intently to the speaker’s words. Constantly remind yourself that the speaker is trying to get you to mentally see her/his thoughts. And, at time when speaker pauses occur, attempt to quickly recall what seem to be at that time the speaker’s thoughts. Work on these two suggestions. While they are not a cure-all, they are a beginning for improved listening.

Remember, you can improve your listening ability by working to overcome interferences due to: (1) values and/or biases, (2) mental and physical fatigue, (3) daydreaming, and (4) get-your-two-cents-worth-in habit.

Creation date : 14/11/2005 @ 18:14
Last update : 14/11/2005 @ 18:22
Category : Study Tips
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