Excuse me, you have a banana in your ear! Information and Techniques to Become a Better Listener

League of Innovations 2012Ironda J. Campbell

Assistant Professor Communication

Pierpont Community & Technical College

Excuse me, Sir! Do youknow that you have a banana in your ear?

Huh? I’m sorry, what do you mean? I don’tunderstand what you mean.

3/2/2012 I.J. Campbell 2

Become a Better Listener:Information and Techniques


LEARN:

•The difference between listening and hearing

•Different styles of listening

•Different types of listening

•To understand and identify listening barriers

•Techniques to develop better listening habits


WHAT IS HEARING?

Hearing is the biological process of receiving sound. If the ear is damaged or ill formed in such a way that sound cannot be received, hearing is prohibited.


WHAT IS LISTENING?


TASTE

TOUCH

SIGHTHEARING

SMELL

Listening is a multi-sensory cognitive process.


Central sulcusMotorControl Touch and Pressure

Speech Taste

Smell

Hearing

Vision

Face recognition

Reading

Language

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•Any of the senses can select a message, and respond to it.

•A visually impaired person can use his sense of smell and touch to smell smoke and feel the heat from fire. Those senses can help him person find a better path to safety.

Multi-sensory process of Listening:

Good! The fire is behind me.


Listening involves:

•Selecting a message

•Paying attention (focusing on) to the message

•Understanding (comprehending) the message

•Responding to the message – choose to do something or choose to do nothing.


STYLES OF LISTENING

Passive Listening

Active Listening


Passive Listening

Passive Listeners are physically present for the message, but they are detached from the message and the communication process at hand.


Passive Listeners:Do not give sustained eye contact to the speaker or the source of the message


Do not take notes on the key points of the message

Passive Listeners:


Do not seek to gain clarity or an understanding of the message

I don’t have time to listen to this. I have to go.

Passive Listeners:


May engage in other activities or thoughts while the message is being given

Passive Listeners:


Active Listening

Active Listeners are engaged and connected to the message. The active listener’s approach to listening is interactive. An active listener participates in the retrieval of the message.


Active Listeners:

•Give their full attention to the source of the message

•Give sustained eye contact to the speaker or the source of the message

•Take notes on the key points of the message

•Seek to gain clarity and understanding of the message

•Postpone other activities while the message is being presented


TYPES OF LISTENING

Types of Listening include:

•Empathic listening•Critical listening•Therapeutic listening•Recreational listening


EMPATHIC LISTENING


The purpose of Empathic listening is listening to give

emotional support.

• When listening empathically, no judgment is cast, even if the person is ‘wrong’.

• The empathic listener is functions as a shoulder to lean on.

• When listening, empathically, it is not the time to ask the person: What wereyou thinking? The individual probably feels bad enough already.


THERAPEUTIC LISTENINGTherapeutic listening is engaged in by a trained professionalTo result in remediation for the client or patient. Some therapeutic listeners include, but are not limited to: Feng Shui experts, Life Coaches, Therapists, Doctors, and Counselors


CRITICAL LISTENING


Critical Listening:

Listening to gain information that will assist in decision making.

Critical listeners ask pertinent questions to retrieve information, that result in a judgment call. A critical listener might ask: What were you thinking?


RECREATIONAL LISTENINGListening for pleasure: Fun and Entertainment


LISTENING BARRIERS


•Any occurrence that prohibits reception or comprehension of the message.

•Listening barriers can take place within the listener [Internal barriers].

•Listening barriers can take place in the environment [External barrier]where the message is being sent and received.

WHAT ARE LISTENING BARRIERS?


INTERNAL BARRIERSAn Internal barrier is any distraction to listener that takes place within the ‘listener’. The internal barrier can be psychological, physical, or ethereal.


EMOTIONS

FATIGUE

PAIN

DAY DREAMING

HUNGER

Types of Internal Listening Barriers

BIAS

II wonder if it’s raining outside.


EXTERNAL BARRIERSAn external listening barrier is any distraction to the message that occursin the environment where the message is being sent or received.


Types of External Listening Barriers

Listening to tunes.

A band playing.

Talking to friends.


Crowds


Techniques for Better Listening


1. Select a message. Just one.• There are many messages around you…all the time. • Pick the one you want.

2. Give that message your full attention. Focus on the message that you’ve selected.

• Disconnect from other activities • Disconnect from communication that is not a part of the ‘selected’ message.

3. Try to comprehend/understand the message. • Ask questions. • Paraphrase the message. Reframe the message in words that you

understand.

4. Respond to the message.• The response may be internal –cognitive.• The response may be external.


LISTENING EXERCISE

Select a Volunteer forHaptic Listening exercise


Reference Page

Geeting, B., & Geeting, C. (1976). How To Listen Assertively. New York, NY: Monarch.

Watson, K.W., & Barker, L.L. (1995). Managing By Listening Around: 21 Keys to SmarterListening. New Orleans, LA: SPECTRA, Inc.

Brownwell, J. (1996). Listening: Attitudes, Principles, and Skills. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Drakeford, J.W. (1982). The Awesome Power of the Listening Heart. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

Nichols, M.P. (1995). The Lost Art of Listening. New York, NY: The Guilford Press. Barbara, D. A. (1971). How to Make People Listen to You. Springfield, Illinois: Charles C.

Thomas, Publisher.

Burley-Allen, M. (1995). Listening: The Forgotten Skill. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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Excuse me, you have a banana in your ear! Information and Techniques to Become a Better Listener

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