Improving General Listening Performance

Let’s have a look at some general principles that can help us improve our overall listening performance. To the extent that we improve attention, interpretation, and storage, we become better listeners.

Improving Attention

In the earlier section on message effectiveness, we looked at two kinds of atten­tion: involuntary and voluntary. Involuntary attention occurs when strong extraneous stimuli capture our attention. Voluntary attention occurs when we willfully focus our attention on a particular subject. Because attention occurs in short bursts and because external stimuli are constantly vying for our involun­tary attention, we must make a special effort to ensure that our voluntary atten­tion stays focused. In other words, we continually have to remind ourselves to pay attention.

One way to improve attention is to recognize how easy it is to be diverted by extraneous details and make an effort to stay focused. A speaker’s clothes or manner­isms, unusual environmental details, competing sounds or movements, or our own concerns and feelings can divert voluntary attention. If we get caught up in these matters, our attention will fade out. Other sources of distractions are self-consciousness (focusing so much on how you are coming across that you miss what the other person is saying) and competitive turn taking (planning and plotting what you will say next, rather than attending to the other person). Luckily, it is possible to override these distractions and refocus attention.

Because voluntary attention is guided by goals and plans, it is especially important to have a clear purpose in mind upon entering a listening situation. In other words, know what you want to accomplish by listening, and remind your­self of your purpose whenever you find your attention straying. If, for example, you are listening to a lecture, your purpose may be to understand and remem­ber the speaker's main points as well as supporting examples. Knowing what to listen for when you enter the situation will help you stay focused. In an inter­personal situation, your goal may be to understand as clearly as possible what is bothering a friend and to give him or her feedback. This goal can then direct your attention.

One of the interesting aspects of listening is that we can listen much faster than we can speak. The normal rate of speaking is approximately 150 words per minute, but studies have shown that we can process messages at rates of 300 words per minute or even higher. This means that as we listen, we have plenty of time to think – or to drift off into daydreams. We can use the time differential between speaking and processing to think about message content and structure rather than to daydream or let attention drift to extraneous details. In public speaking situations, fill time by identifying main ideas, recalling supporting details, and looking for transitions that will identify the structure of the speech. In interper­sonal contexts, focus on identifying your partner's feelings and checking their nonverbal communication. Most listening situations include spare time. Use it to paraphrase content, relate what is said to what you already know, add your own details, and review and summarize the main ideas of the message.

Finally, you can improve attention by giving yourself reasons to listen. Don’t dismiss a message ahead of time because you assume it will be boring. If you enter a listening situation expecting the worst, nonlistening becomes inevitable.

Improving Interpretation

Listening is more than attending to a message. It also involves assigning mean­ing to the stimuli that have captured our attention. When we process stimuli, we react both emotionally and logically. That is, we assign to incoming data positive or negative emotional values at the same time that we use our store-­house of schemata to make sense of these data. We improve listening, then, by controlling our emotional reactions and by finding appropriate schemata for classifying the data.

First, it is important to control our emotions. Whether positive or negative, intense emotional reactions can short-circuit the listening process and destroy the objectivity we need to be evaluative listeners. Negative reactions to a speaker or topic, for example, can cause us to close down the perceptual process or to reinterpret what is said according to our own bi­ases. This reaction often occurs when we feel stress or fear; for example, a patient with a serious illness may become so anxious while listening to a doctor that he or she is unable to interpret what the physi­cian is saying or may be so awed by the doctor’s expertise and power that im­portant questions are left unasked. The ability to control emotions is also im­portant in empathic listening situations. Such situations call for nonjudgmental acceptance. If we betray strong emotions by our nonverbal reactions, we will de­stroy the trust necessary for relational development.

Individual biases also distort the listening process. It is extremely hard to process information objectively when we disapprove of a speaker’s views. It is, therefore, important to be aware of your biases and delay final evaluation until you have had time to think about what is said. This principle holds true for positive as well as negative biases. Not only are we likely to reject the views of speakers we dislike, but, we are also likely to accept uncritically those messages that reinforce our prejudices. When encountering areas in which we hold strong biases, we should be especially critical, questioning those views we approve of and giving an objective hearing to those we dislike.

Receivers are often lazy processors who focus on peripheral cues rather than on die content of a message. Uncritical audience members, for example, may say to themselves, “I’m not sure what he’s talking about, but he’s impor­tant, so the speech must be good.” This kind of peripheral processing allows receivers to suppose that listening has taken place, when very little has actually happened. It is important to pay attention to message content rather than peripheral cues when processing information. This means concentrating on what is actually said, evaluating the logic, evidence, and completeness of the arguments in the message.

We must also question the adequacy of perceptual schemata and separate infer­ence from observation. When we listen, we use perceptual schemata to help us make sense of messages. If these schemata are simplistic then our interpreta­tions are simplistic as well. In addition, schemata often serve to distort percep­tion. Studies show that schemata have embedded within them schematic de­fault options, details that are supplied when information is missing. Assume that you witness a car crash. Later, when a lawyer asks you whether or not glass from broken headlights was on the ground, you may answer affirmatively, even if the headlights were not actually broken. Your schema for car accidents sup­plies details that exist in your mind rather than in the actual situation. Evi­dence shows that after a period of time, people have trouble distinguishing in­ferred from observed information.

Although schemata can confuse us, they can also orient us toward a topic, making it easier to process. This suggests a final way to increase your listen­ing ability: Prepare ahead of time by knowing as much as possible about the topic; do your homework.

Improving Retention and Retrieval

It is impossible to put everything we hear into long-term memory exactly as we hear it. Luckily, we do not need to remember everything exactly. In most cases, it is important to store main ideas rather than specific phrasing, in fact, if we concentrate too specifically on wording or descriptive details and not enough on ideas, we’ll miss the meaning of the message. The first principle in improv­ing retention, then, is to decide what needs to be stored.

Once we decide that something should be remembered, we must actively work to retain it. One way is to mentally rehearse and review ideas that need to be stored. Remembering takes effort, effort that can be reduced if you take notes to ensure that you have a permanent record of a spoken message. Of course, spe­cial problems can arise during note taking. The first is that as we struggle to write something down, we may tune out the rest of the message. If you have to take notes, jot down main ideas along with brief examples. Be sure you under­stand the idea before you start writing. In addition, notes are of little use if they are not reviewed. The information ultimately has to go into memory, and writ­ing it in a book does not guarantee that you will remember it later. Experts on note taking suggest that you go over your notes as soon as possible after taking them, filling in details and making sense of them.

In special cases, you may wish to use mnemonic devices or special memory aids. Often, simple repetition serves to fix things in memory. However, other devices can help you accomplish message storage. If you tend to be visually oriented, you may find it easier to memorize something (say, a list) by visualizing its parts or items placed in a familiar setting. An­other way to remember items is to link them visually to one another. Whatever aid you choose, you must spend time and effort to ensure that what you have attended to and interpreted will come back to you when you need it.

Finally, listeners should seek out feedback whenever possible. Paraphrasing (repeating a message in your own words so that the speaker can check your understanding) and asking questions are important ways not only to clarify your interpretation but also to involve yourself in a message.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-16