4.4 Phases of listening - stand up, speak (2023)

learning goals

1. Explain the receiving phase of listening.
2. Explain the understanding phase of listening.
3. Explain the memory phase of listening.
4. Explain the evaluation phase of listening.
5. Explain the reaction phase of listening.
6. Understand the two types of feedback listeners give speakers.

Reception

Receptionis the intentional focus on hearing a speaker's message, which happens when we filter out other sources so that we can isolate the message and avoid the confusing mix of incoming stimuli. At this stage we still only hear the message. hint aFigure 4.3 “Feedback phases”that this phase is represented by the ear because it is the primary tool in this phase of the listening process.

One of the authors of this book recalls attending a political rally for a presidential candidate at which about five thousand people were crammed into an outdoor amphitheater. When the contestant finally began to speak, the cheering and shouting was so loud that the contestant could not be heard well, despite the use of a public address system. In this example, our co-author had trouble receiving the message due to external noise. This is just one example of how just listening can take a sincere effort, but you must hear the message before you can continue listening.

Understanding

ImUnderstandingAt level we try to understand the meaning of the message, which is not always easy. For one thing, it can be difficult to tell what the message was when a speaker isn't clear—did your friend say, "I think she's late for class" or "My teacher delayed class"? hint aFigure 4.3 “Feedback phases”that stages two, three and four are represented by the brain because it is the primary tool involved in these stages of the auditory process.

Because of our different backgrounds and experiences, even when we understand the words in a message, we sometimes make the mistake of giving meaning to the words of others. Suppose you have plans with your friends to meet up at a certain cinema, but you arrive and no one else shows up. Eventually you find out that your friends are at another theater across town showing the same movie. Everyone else understood that the meeting point was the West Side location, but they mistook it for the East Side location, missing out on some of the fun.

The consequences of ineffective listening in a classroom can be much worse. If your professor advises students to “start early” with your speech, he or she is probably hoping that you will start researching right away and move on to developing a thesis and outlining the speech as soon as possible. However, the students in your class might misunderstand the importance of the teacher in a number of ways. A student might interpret the advice to mean that the rest of the task has time to develop as long as she starts. Another student might instead think that an early start on Friday before the due date starts on Monday instead of Sunday evening.

So much of the way we understand others is influenced by our own perceptions and experiences. Therefore, in the understanding phase of listening, we should look for places where our perception might differ from that of the speaker.

Remember

Rememberstarts listening; If you can't remember something that was said, you may not have been listening properly. Wolvin and Coakley state that the most common reason for not remembering a message after the fact is that it was not actually learned at all (Wolvin & Coakley, 1996). But even if you listen carefully, some messages are more difficult to understand and remember than others. Highly complex and detailed messages require excellent listening skills. Additionally, if something distracts your attention for even a moment, you could miss information that explains other new concepts you hear when you start listening fully again.

It's also important to know that you can improve your memory of a message by processing it meaningfully—that is, by applying it in a way that makes sense to you (Gluck, et al., 2008). For example, instead of just repeating the name of a new acquaintance over and over again, you could remember them by associating them with something in your own life. "Emily," you might say, "reminds me of the Emily I knew in middle school" or "Mr. The name Impiari reminds me of the Impala my father drives.”

Finally, if the understanding was inaccurate, the memory of the message will also be inaccurate.

Evaluate

The fourth stage of the listening process isevaluate, or to judge the value of the message. We may think, "That makes sense," or conversely, "That's very strange." Because everyone embodies prejudices and perspectives learned from vastly different life experiences, evaluations of the same message can vary widely from one listener to another. Even the most open-minded listeners have opinions about a speaker, and those opinions affect how the message is evaluated. People are more likely to value a message positively when the speaker speaks clearly, presents ideas logically, and provides reasons to support the points made.

Unfortunately, personal opinions sometimes lead to biased reviews. Imagine you are listening to a speech given by someone from another country and that person has an accent that is difficult to understand. You may find it difficult to easily decipher the speaker's message. Some people find a foreign accent interesting or even exotic, while others find it annoying or even a sign of ignorance. If a listener has a strong bias against foreign accents, the listener may not even try to care about the message. If you distrust a speaker because of an accent, you might refuse important or personally enriching information. Good listeners have learned to refrain from these judgments and instead focus on the meaning of the speaker.

React

React– sometimes referred to as feedback – is the fifth and final stage of the listening process. It's the stage where you show your commitment. Almost anything you do at this stage can be interpreted as feedback. For example, you give your teacher positive feedback when you stay behind at the end of class to finish a sentence in your notes, or reach out to the teacher to ask for clarification. The opposite type of feedback comes from students who pack up their things and storm out the door as soon as class is over. hint aFigure 4.3 “Feedback phases”that this phase is represented by the lips because we often give feedback in the form of verbal feedback; However, you may as well respond non-verbally.