Chapter 3: Listening

"The most basic and powerful way to connect to another person is to listen.  Just listen.  Perhaps the most important thing we ever give each other is our attention."

​--Rachel Naomi Remen 

Most people are poor listeners. Even when we think we are listening carefully, we usually grasp only half of what we hear, and we retain even less. Improving your listening skills can be helpful in every part of your life, including speech-making. The best speakers are often the best listeners. Your speech class gives you a perfect chance to work on your listening skills as well as your speaking skills.

The most important cause of poor listening is giving in to physical and mental distractions. Many times we let our thoughts wander rather than concentrating on what is being said. Sometimes, however, we listen too hard. We try to remember every word a speaker says, and we lose the main message by concentrating on details. In other situations, we may jump to conclusions and prejudge a speaker without hearing out the message. Finally, we often judge people by their appearance or speaking manner instead of listening to what they say.

You can overcome these poor listening habits by taking several steps.

• First, take listening seriously and commit yourself to becoming a better listener.

• Second, work at being an active listener. Give your undivided attention to the speaker in a genuine effort to understand her or his ideas.

• Third, resist distractions. Make a conscious effort to keep your mind on what the speaker is saying.

• Fourth, try not to be diverted by appearance or delivery. Set aside preconceived judgments based on a person's looks or manner of speech. 

• Fifth, suspend judgment until you have heard the speaker's entire message—even if you think you are going to disagree.

• Sixth, focus your listening by paying attention to main points, to evidence, and to the speaker's techniques.

• Finally, develop your note-taking skills. When done properly, note taking is an excellent way to improve your concentration and to keep track of a speaker's ideas. It almost forces you to become a more attentive and creative listener.

Chapter 3 Section 1: Listening is More than Hearing

Recalling the Facts

1.  What is the difference between active and passive listening?

2.  Name and briefly identify the FOUR listening styles.

3.  Consider the empathic role of listening. 

Why would nonjudgmental listening be so valuable? 

4. Why is it that we can sometimes share our feelings freely with a stranger (someone we sit next to on the bus, for instance) but have difficulty being open with close friends or family? 

Section 2:  Roadblocks to Good Listening

Recalling the Facts

1.  Explain two (2) reasons why listening is difficult.

2.  Name and  DESCRIBE each of the five (5) bad listening habits.

3.  Make a list of (5 FIVE) different kinds of distractions you face while trying to listen (both internal and external).  

4. What strategies would you suggest to overcome these internal and external distractions you may face while trying to listen to others? 

Section 3: Effective Listening Strategies 

Recalling the Facts

1.  When are the most important times to listen carefully during a speech?

2.  How can you use your listening "spare time" to best advantage?

3.  Explain the difference between asking for an explanation, paraphrasing a message, and summarizing a message.

Critical Thinking

4.  The average person spends 9 percent of his daily communication time writing, 16 percent reading, 30 percent speaking, and a whopping 45 percent listening.  Students spend even more time listening--up to 60 percent during school hours, according to some studies. 

• Do these percentages seem accurate? 

• Which classes, in your opinion, require the most listening? 

• Which require the least?

How the Ear Works:  

Many of us take for granted a very extraordinary organ... our ears. To understand the ear, we need to understand what sound is.

The speakers you are listening to right now are vibrating...flexing in and out causing a wave of pressure through the air

The frequency of these waves, or the speed at which the sound creating surface moves back and forth affects the pitch of the sound. The level of air pressure in each wave is directly related to how loud the sound is.

The outer part of our ear catches these waves. It faces forward and has a specially designed structure of curves helping us to determine the direction of sound, and emphasize frequencies used in human speech

Now that the sound waves are caught, they travel through the ear canal and strike against our eardrum...a thin membrane about 10 mm wide.

Now that we received the sound, the middle ear transfers this energy.

The smallest bones in your body, the Malleus, Incus, and Stapes start in motion.

The Malleus is attached to the eardrum, and as the sound travels along the force is amplified by leverage until it arrives at the Stapes which acts like a reverse piston creating waves in the fluid of the inner ear.

The most significant increase in pressure is caused by pneumatic amplification. The face of the stapes has a surface area of 3.2 square mm, while the eardrum has a surface area of 55 square mm. Using this, along with leverage through the Malleus and Incus, the final pressure is 22 times greater than when the sound first arrived.

Now we come to the most complicated part of hearing... the Cochlea. In reality, it is coiled up, but it is easier to understand straightened out.

There are actually three chambers inside, but lets take a look at the central part.

The stapes is causing pressure waves to travel through the structure. Along the inside wall is about 20-30k reed like fibers. As the waves move along they encounter fibers with the correct resonant frequency and energy is released. 

These fibers aren't actually what give us the signal that we heard something. There is a special structure next to these fibers containing hair cells. When the hair fibers resonate, they cause the hair cells to move, which then sends an electrical impulse to the cochlear nerve, and on to the brain. Certain pitches of sound will resonate in specific locations, and louder sounds will cause more hair cells to move.

Our brain interprets all this raw data, making it possible to enjoy things like music, or an engaging conversation.

Just to think that all of this is happening in your head right now at full speed. And not just one, but two of these sophisticated instruments are giving you the amazing sense of hearing. This is just one of the amazing systems found in the human body that go far beyond our humble human understanding. 

The above list ranks the top 100 American speeches of the 20th century as determined in a nationwide survey of 137 communication scholars, conducted by Stephen E. Lucas (University of Wisconsin) and Martin J. Medhurst (Texas A&M University). The speeches were rated on two criteria: rhetorical artistry and historical impact. To be eligible for consideration, a speech did not need to have been presented in the United States, but the speaker had to be a U.S. resident. There were no restrictions on the genres or topics of speeches, or on the number of speeches from a single speaker.  

LISTENING WORKSHEET

 Practice your listening skills by completing this form as you listen to a speech from Top 100 American Speeches, a speech on videotape, or a speech outside the classroom.  Choose any speech on the list that you like, and specify which one you chose, the date and occasion of the speech, as well as the speaker.  Respond to each of the following questions in the Classflow prompt in Complete Sentences.  Be sure to include the following information at the beginning of your prompt reponse:

Speaker:

Title of Speech:

Occasion of the Speech:

Date Speech Was Delivered:

1. What is the topic of the speech?

2. What is the speaker’s specific purpose?

3. Which of the following methods of gaining interest and attention does the speaker use in the introduction?

• Relate the topic to the audience

• State the importance of the topic

• Startle the audience

• Arouse the curiosity of the audience

• Question the audience

• Begin with a quotation

• Tell a story

• Refer to the occasion

• Invite audience participation

• Use visual or audio aids

• Refer to a previous speaker

• Begin with humor

4. Does the speaker preview the main points of the speech in the introduction?

5. List the main points developed in the body of the speech.

6. What pattern of organization does the speaker use?

7. Are the speaker’s main points clear and easy to follow? Why or why not? 

8. Does the speaker use a transition or other connective between each main point of the speech?

9. Which of the following methods of referring to the central idea does the speaker use in the conclusion?

• Restate the main points

• End with a quotation

• Make a dramatic statement

• Refer to the introduction

• Challenge the audience

• Call for action