CMST 2HM3 Chapter Notes - Chapter 5: Active Listening
17 Apr 2019
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UHC Chapter 5: Listening
Misconceptions about Language
Listening and Hearing Are Not the Same Thing
• Hearing: The process wherein sound waves strike the eardrum and cause vibrations that are
transmitted to the brain
• Listening: The process wherein the brain reconstructs electrochemical impulses generated by hearing
into representations of the of the original sound and gives them meaning
• Attending: The process of focusing on certain stimuli from the environment
• Understanding: The act of interpreting a message by following syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic rules
• Responding: Providing observable feedback to another person’s behaviour or speech
o Offering feedback serves 2 important functions: its helps you clarify your understanding of a
speaker’s message and it shows that you care about what the speaker is saying
• Remembering: Recalling previously introduced information in two phases: short-term & long-term
• Residual message: The part of a message a receiver can recall after short-/long-term memory losses
Listening is not a Natural Process
• Listening is a skill and can be improved through instruction and training
Listening Requires Effort
• Every kind of listening requires mental effort by the receiver
All Listeners do not Receive the Same Message
• When 2+ people are listening to a speaker, they are not all hearing and receiving the same message
• Physiological factors, personal interests and needs, and our social roles and cultural backgrounds all
shape and distort the raw data we hear into uniquely different messages
Overcoming Challenges to Effective Listening
Faulty Listening Behaviours
• Pseudo-listening: An imitation of true listening in which the receiver’s mind is somewhere else
• Selective listening: Style in which the receiver responds only to messages that interest him/her
• Defensive listening: response style where the receiver perceives a speaker’s comments as an attack
• Ambushing: When the receiver listens carefully to gather information to use in attacking the speaker
• Insulated listening: A style in which the receiver ignores undesirable information
• Insensitive listening: Failure to recognize the thoughts or feeling that are not directly expressed by a
speaker, instead accepting the speaker’s words at face value
• Stage hogging: A listening style in which the receiver is more concerned with making his/her own point
that with understanding the speaker
o People respond in one of two ways
▪ Passively: talking less, tuning out the stage hog, showing boredom non-verbally, or
leaving the conversation
▪ Actively: trying to recapture the floor, hinting about the stage hog’s dominance, or
confronting the speaker about his/her narcissism
Reasons for Poor Listening
• Effort: Listening effectively is hard work and takes a great deal of effort
• Message Overload: The amount of speech most of us encounter every day makes careful listening to
everything we hear impossible
• Rapid thought: The average person speakers between 100 and 140 words per minute which only takes
16-23% of the 600 words we can understand per minute. This creates mental space that should be
filled with relevant, production actions to further engage in a conversation or speaker’s message
• Psychological Noise: Being wrapped up in personal concerns that distract from the speaker’s message
• Physical Noise: Physical distractions can also distract from a speaker’s message
• Hearing Problems: Medical conditions may prevent ability to listen properly
• Faulty assumptions: Assuming remarks don’t have much value and therefore brushing them off
• Talking has more apparent advantages
• Cultural Differences: The way members of different cultures communicate can affect listening
• Media Influences: Trends in contemporary mass media discourage the kind of focused attention that is
necessary for careful listening (e.g., short news segments, commercials, etc.)
• Social Media Influences: Using social media can prevent an individual from effectively engaging in
reality as well as influence the acceptable listening practice
Personal Learning Styles
Content-Oriented Listening
• Content-oriented listening: a listening style that focuses on the content of a message
• Involves looking for details, analyzing an issue from several perspectives, giving weight to the messages
of experts/other credible sources
• Valuable when the goal is to evaluate the quality of ideas and when there is value in looking at issues
from a wide range of perspectives
• Can take more time than others are willing to give
• Can come off as being an overly critical or hostile approach
People-Oriented Listening
• People-oriented listening: a listening style that is primarily concerned with creating and maintaining
positive relationships
• Less judgmental approach, more interested in understanding and supporting than evaluating
• Easy to become overly involved with others’ feelings
o May lose ability to detach and assess the quality of information others are giving
Action-Oriented Listening
• Action-oriented listening: a listening style primary concerned with accomplishing the task at hand
• Figure out what response the message requires
• Clear and concise messages benefit this approach
• Most appropriate when taking care of business
• Tendency to minimize emotional issues/concerns
Time-Oriented Listening
• Time-oriented listening: a listening style that is primarily concerned with minimizing the time
necessary to accomplish the task at hand
• Concerned with efficiency
• An asset when deadlines are in place
• Excessive focus on time, however, can hamper deliberation required by some jobs
Informational Listening
• Informational listening: listening in which the goal is to receive accurately the same thoughts the
speaker is trying to convey
Don’t Argue of Judge Prematurely
• Listen first, make sure you understand, then evaluate or argue if you choose
Separate the Message from the Speaker
• Becoming irritated with the bearer of unpleasant information can not only cause you to miss important
information but also harm your relationships
• Writing off everything a person says can cause you to mistakenly discount the value of a message
