Public Speaking

46 CHAPTER^4 Effective Listening

In summary, linguistic, cultural, and personal factors can challenge your listening

competencies. To assess your skills, complete the Listening Skills Self-Assessment in

your online resources. To improve your skills, use some of the tips described throughout

the remainder of this chapter.

Strategies to Improve Listening

Margarete Imhof, past president of the International Listening Association, says that

students do not usually think of listening as an active process they can control. Instead,

they find it easier to criticize the speaker’s mannerisms and characteristics rather

than critically analyze the message. This section presents some of her suggestions for

improving listening skills.^20

Develop Advanced Skills

Throughout each day, you have listening goals, whether or not you think about them.

You watch TV for entertainment, but when a commercial comes on, you might tune out

or you might evaluate the claims, deciding whether or not the product is worth buying.

You listen to a lecture for information and then you eat lunch with friends and listen

empathetically to their frustrations. For each type of listening, you shift strategies to

meet your goals.

Different goals require different competencies, ranging from basic to advanced

levels. On the basic level, we listen to the message rather mindlessly, relying on cultural

scripts, prior knowledge, past experiences, and the like to guide our understanding. For

example, when a friend vents, you have in mind a “script” for venting that allows you

to listen and respond empathetically. But more complex messages, such as lectures or

political speeches, need more mindful attention and require more cognitive effort to

analyze and reflect on the message.^21 (See Table 4.1.) This section focuses on ways to

develop advanced listening skills for comprehending and evaluating messages.

Improve Your Comprehension

Listening with the purpose of understanding information, also known as comprehensive

listening, is useful every day: Your professor clarifies a complex process; your boss

gives directions for your next project; your physician explains your medical condition;

table 4.1

Listening Competencies

Basic Skills Advanced Skills

Uses previous knowledge, experiences, scripts,

and so on to process the message

Systematically examines messages and

beliefs before coming to decisions

Takes less cognitive effort Is mindful; requires more cognitive effort

Is comparatively rapid Takes time and energy to control attention

and focus

Gets the “gist” of the message Elaborates, analyzes, and evaluates for

broader and deeper understandings

Source: Burleson (2011).

comprehensive listening
listening to understand
information

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