Listening
Chapter 6
What is listening?
Listening is the process of receiving, constructing
meaning from, and responding to spoken and/or
nonverbal messages.
 We spend more than 50% of our communication
time listening, but many of us only remember about
25%
 It’s one of the five most important basic workplace
skills expected of employers, but rarely do we
receive formal training
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Challenges to Listening
1. Listening Style
2. Apprehension
3. Processing Approach
LISTENING STYLE
Our favored and usually unconscious approach to listening
Content-oriented: focus on and evaluate facts and evidence;
appreciate details and enjoy processing complex information; likely to
ask questions
People-oriented: focus on feelings speakers have; tend to notice if
partners are pleased or upset; use headnods, eye contact, and smiles
Action-oriented: focus on ultimate point speaker is making; get
frustrated with disorganization or rambling; anticipate and finish
others’ sentences
Time-oriented: prefer brief and hurried conversation; use nonverbal
and verbal cues to signal speakers to be more concise; check the
time
Listening apprehension
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The anxiety we feel about listening
It may increase when we are
worried about misinterpreting the
message or are concerned about
how the message might affect us
(Important training meeting,
doctor’s appointment, etc.)
Process Approach
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Passive Listening: The habitual
and unconscious process of
receiving messages (autopilot—
listen to parts & assume the rest)
Active Listening: The deliberate
and conscious process of
remembering, evaluating, and
responding to messages.
Becoming an ACTIVE LISTENER requires
Attending
 Understanding
 Remembering
 Evaluating
 Responding
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ATTENDING
The process of willfully perceiving selected sounds; poor listeners have difficulty exercising control
over what they attend to. Typical speech is 120-150 words per minutes, but brains process 400-800;
so we assume what’s coming and let our minds wander
Get physically ready to listen; get rid of distractions, sit
upright and closer to speaker; make eye contact
 Resist mental distractions; work consciously to block out
wandering thoughts and auditory and physical distractions
 Make the shift fully from speaker to listener—don’t interrupt
 Observe nonverbal cues
 Hear a person out—don’t stop listening before he/she is
finished
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UNDERSTANDING
Results from accurately decoding a message
Identify the main point
 Ask questions—to get details, to clarify word meanings,
and to clarify feelings
 Paraphrase—put your interpretation into words (content
or feeling)
 Empathize--try to identify with another’s feelings or
attitude
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REMEMBERING
The process of moving information from short-term to long-term memory
Several things can affect our ability to remember:
 We filter out information that doesn’t fit our listening style
 Our listening anxiety prevents us from recalling
 We engage in passive listening
 We practice selective listening and remember only what
supports our position
 We remember only what’s said at the beginning and end
of the message
Techniques to improve remembering
Repeat the information: Repetition helps store
information in long-term memory. Without it, info can
leave short-term memory in as little as 20 seconds
 Construct mnemonics: Mnemonic devices are
learning techniques that associates a word or short
statement with new and longer information (HOMES
for Great Lakes)
 Take notes: During lectures and meetings, it
provides a written record and allows to take an
active role
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EVALUATING
The process of critically analyzing what you hear to determine how truthful,
authentic, or believable you believe the message to be
Separate facts from inferences: Facts can be verified as
true, while inferences are assertion based on the facts
presented
 Probe for information: Encourage the speaker to delve
deeper into a topic in order to evaluate it more accurately
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RESPONDING
The process of providing feedback; do so in ways that demonstrate respect
for the speaker
General Response Guidelines
 Provide Feedback Cues—verbal and nonverbal signals
(nodding, smiles, saying “huh?” or “yeah”)
 Respond only after the speaker has finished
 Respond to the message before changing the subject
Other Response Guidelines
Emotional Support Response reassures,
encourages, sooths, consoles, or cheers up the
speaker
 Critique Support Response is most effective when
the critique clearly demonstrates respect for the
speaker
 Public Speech Evaluation Response: the goal is to
be respectful, honest, and helpful. You might be
critiquing content, structure, delivery, and/or
presentation aids
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