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The Study System:

Listening

How much of your time do you spend listening?

Have you ever taken a class in listening?

Chances are you have probably taken classes in writing, reading and speaking but never in listening. Listening like speaking, reading, and writing is a skill that needs to be developed. Whether listening to a lecture or talking with a friend, retraining needs to take place to develop effective listening skills. The following are the areas in which retraining needs to occur:

Generate interest in the speaker's topic.   Develop the ``Selfish Approach'' to acquire new knowledge.

Adapt to the speaker's appearance and delivery. We all have biases.  Just as in memory, don't let a speaker's appearance, speech pattern, or political view, affect your willingness to accept new information.

Overcome and adjust to distractions. Distractions may be
Internal (hunger pains, fatigue), External (construction noise, cold,
heat), or Mental (quarrel with a friend, death in the family).

Listen for concepts and major ideas. Do not concentrate on isolated facts at the risk of missing the central theme.

Focus genuine attention on the speaker and the message. Avoid being a ``Pretend Listener,'' smiling and shaking your head without accepting the message.

Listen without judging or refuting the message. Don't grasp on to one point and prepare your response without hearing the complete message. Check your motives for listening. A response is not always necessary.

Listen to difficult expository material. Improve your skills by
listening to challenging speeches and programs rather than spending your time watching prime time television.

From: Florence I. Wolff, ``Listening Perceptively to Learn, Grow, and Prosper at Wright State University or Listening Can Be Taught and Learned,'' Workshop presented at Wright State University (Dayton, Ohio, 10 April 1984).