Language Proficiency and Skill Development
Course

It is possible to listen without hearing.

It is possible to hear without listening.
Listening requires effort
Reasons for poor listening
Faulty listening styles
Listening skills and listening strategies
LISTENING WITH...
“EXPERIENCE”
“WHAT WE KNOW”
BIASES
STEREOTYPES
PERCEPTIONS
EMOTIONS










Effort – its hard to stay focused
Message overload – too much at once
Rapid thought – 600 wpm vs. 140 wpm
Psychological noise – personal concerns
Physical noise – distractions (fatigue)
Hearing problems – frustration
Faulty Assumptions - “heard it all before”
Talking has more advantages = > who interrupts more?
Cultural Differences
Media influences – MTV, radio, TV.

What do good listeners look like?
◦ Verbally
◦ Nonverbally



Listening is not a natural process.
Listening requires effort (active not passive)
All listeners do not receive the same message.
◦ We hear uniquely different messages
◦ Physiological factors, social roles, cultural background, personal
interests, and needs.


Attending – paying attention. Mindfulness.
Understanding/Interpreting
◦ Assigning meaning to messages
◦ PRINCIPLE: The greater the similarity between individuals, the
greater the likelihood for more accurate understanding.
◦ PRINCIPLE: People understand best if they can relate what
they are hearing to something they already know.
◦ PRINCIPLE: You understand best that which you also
experience.

Responding: Giving observable feedback to speaker
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦

Clarifying a message
Care about what the speaker says
Confirming understanding of a message
Nonverbal responses
Feedback – verbal responses
Remembering
LISTENING
LISTEN TO RESPOND
LISTEN TO UNDERSTAND
LISTEN TO UNDERSTAND
1. RESTATE/REPEAT
2. PARAPHRASE
3. REFLECT FEELING
4. PARAPHRASE CONTENT AND
REFLECT FEELING
5. SAY NOTHING
LISTEN TO UNDERSTAND
Before I can walk in
another person’s shoes,
I must remove my own.
Unknown




CONTENT ORIENTED: Focus on issues and
arguments
PEOPLE ORIENTED: Focus on feelings and emotions
ACTION ORIENTED: Impatient and often finish
speakers’ thoughts – tend to second guess
TIME ORIENTED: Prefer bulleted talking points quickly
and briefly.
Ten Rules for Good Listening
Rule Listening
1. Stop talking
Reasoning Behind the Rule
You cannot listen if you are
talking.
2. Put the person at ease Help a person feel free to talk; create a
permissive environment.
3. Show the person you
want to listen
4.Remove distractions
Look and act interested; listen to
understand, not to oppose.
Don’t doodle, tap, or shuffle
papers; shut the door if necessary
to achieve quiet.
Ten Rules for Good Listening
Rule Listening
Reasoning Behind the Rule
5. Empathize
Try to see the other person’s
point of view.
6. Be patient
Allow plenty of time; do not
interrupt; don’t start for the
door or walk away.
7. Hold your temper
An angry person takes the wrong
meaning from words.
Ten Rules for Good Listening
Rule Listening
8.Go easy on argument
and criticism
9. Ask questions
10. Stop talking
Reasoning Behind the Rule
Don’t put people on the defensive
and cause them to “clam up” or
become angry; do not argue even if you win, you
lose.
This encourages a person and
shows that you are listening; it
helps to develop points further.
This is first and last, because all
other guides depend on it; you
cannot listen effectively while you
are talking.
Informational
Emphatic
Critically
INFORMATIONAL LISTENING
Don’t argue or judge prematurely
Separate the message from the
speaker
Be opportunistic
INFORMATIONAL LISTENING
Look for key ideas
Ask questions
 Sincere questions
INFORMATIONAL LISTENING
Counterfeit questions
 seek “correct” answers
 based on unchecked assumptions
INFORMATIONAL LISTENING
Paraphrase
Take notes
 Don’t wait too long before beginning to jot
down ideas
 Record only key ideas
 Develop a note-taking format
CRITICAL LISTENING
Listen for information before
evaluating
Evaluate the speaker’s credibility
 Is the speaker competent?
 Is the speaker impartial?
CRITICAL LISTENING
Examine speaker’s evidence
Examine emotional appeals
 Is the evidence recent enough?
 Is enough evidence presented?
CRITICAL LISTENING
Examine emotional appeals
Is the evidence from a reliable
source?
Can the evidence be interpreted in
more than one way?
EMPATHIC LISTENING
Advising
Be confident that the advice is correct
Ask yourself whether the person
seeking your advice seems willing to
accept it
EMPATHIC LISTENING
Advising
Be certain that the receiver won’t
blame you if the advice doesn’t work
out
EMPATHIC LISTENING
Judging
 The person with the problem should have
requested an evaluation from you
 Your judgment is genuinely constructive
and not designed to be a put-down
EMPATHIC LISTENING
Analyzing
 Offer your interpretation in a tentative way
rather than as absolute fact
 Your analysis ought to have a reasonable
chance of being correct
EMPATHIC LISTENING
Analyzing
 You ought to be sure that the other person
will be receptive to your analysis
 Be sure that your motive for offering an
analysis is truly to help the other person
EMPATHIC LISTENING
Questioning
 Don’t ask questions just to satisfy your own
curiosity
 Be sure your questions won’t confuse or
distract the person you’re trying to help
EMPATHIC LISTENING
Questioning
 Don’t use questions to disguise your
suggestions or criticisms
EMPATHIC LISTENING
Supporting
Make sure your expression of support
is sincere
Be sure the other person can accept
your support
EMPATHIC LISTENING
Prompting
 involves using silences and brief statements
of encouragement to draw others out, and
in so doing, helping them solve their own
problems
EMPATHIC LISTENING
Paraphrasing
 Is the problem complex enough?
 Do you have the necessary time and
concern?
 Are you genuinely interested in helping the
other person?
EMPATHIC LISTENING
Paraphrasing
Can you withhold judgment?
Is your paraphrasing in proportion to
other responses?
EMPATHIC LISTENING
When and How to Help
Think about the situation
Think about the other person
Think about yourself