How To Overcome the barriers of listening

1. Concentrate on what a teacher is says rather than on how he looks.
Don’t be distracted by his physical appearance or his mannerism.

2 Repeat the key ideas to yourself. Particularly, while listening to a long lecture, if you can repeat yourself all the important ideas the speaker has put before you. This will also help you to understand the lecture better.

3 Try to relate the speaker’s remarks to your personal background and experience. This will also enable you too retain those remarks in your memory longer.

4 Do not let your mind wander away from what the speaker is says. So do not think of the pleasant or unpleasant experiences of your own. Be determined that you are going to search everything out of your mind expect the speaker’s words. It is also advisable to keep your eyes switched on the speaker. If you start looking out of the window, around the room, your mind will go on unnecessary excursion.

5 Listen with a positive attitude. Many listeners fail to listen because they are mentally unprepared to listen. Don’t let your prejudices to close your mind to what the other person has to say.

6 Try to grasp ‘between-the –lines’ messages. Listen to what you can’t hear. Watch for body languages, for changes in expression, for voice intonation, which might be very significant indicators of the real message.

7 Take notes if you feel desirable. But this might distract you from listening. So keep the notes to the minimum. Let them be aids to memory rather than detailed notes.

8 Don’t be afraid to ask question or seek clarification wherever you are in doubt. Don’t think that interrupting is discourteous. Asking question is an evidence of your being interested

problems that prevent to be a good listener.

1. Uninterested, Subject Matter:-

In classroom and teacher announced the name of the topic or mention the name of the topic and considered that it was very boring so immediately mind turned to the other point and had thought about that concerned which was mind stored for just a moment or just an occasion – started using that unoccupied 75 percent of mental capacity.

A good listener, on the other hand, might start at the same point but arrives at a different conclusion. The good listener says, "that sounds like a dull subject and I don't see how it could help me in my work. But I'm here, so I guess I'll pay attention and see what the speaker has to say. Maybe there will be something I can use."

2. Criticize the Delivery or Appearance of the Speaker

Many of us do this on a regular basis. We tend to mentally criticize the speaker for not speaking distinctly, for talking too softly, for reading, for not maintaining eye contact. We often behave similarly the speaker's appearance. If speakers don't dress well as we think they should. We probably tend not to listen closely or we may immediately classify the speaker as a liberal or conservative, a hippie or a square.

But we should concentrate on what the teacher is saying, we should begin to get the important point and we should keep in mind that, the point is more important than the form in which it is delivered.

3. Stimulating the view:-

Sometime it happens that the teacher talks about some debatable topic and we disagree on it and then we can get so concerned that our train of thought causes us to spend more time developing counter arguments so that we no longer listen to the speaker's additional comments. We remain busy formulating questions in our mind to ask the speaker, or we may think have arguments that can be rebutted the speaker. In cases like this, our listening efficiency drops to nearly zero because of over-stimulation. So, here the speaker out before you judge him or her.

4. Fake Attention:-

This is probably one of the more common bad listening habits. If teacher is speaking to the class in a very strong manner and suddenly he knows aware that most of the students are sitting with chin in hand staring to teacher that is a good signal that attention is being faked. Their eyes are on the teacher or on the black board but their minds are miles away.

We probably have developed our own faking skills to a high point. Let’s recognize what we’re doing and eliminate faking as a poor listening habit.

5. Tolerate or Create Distractions:-

In the class, students are whispering with each other and make noise falls into this category. Some distractions from outside of the classroom can be tolerated like vehicles or if some noise into the classroom like fan noise or some strange noise which is irritating to us creates distractions in listening, then we can say physical noise from outside or inside of the classroom.

6. Selective Listening:-

Selective listeners respond only to the parts of a speaker’s remarks that interest them. All of us are selective listeners from time to time as, for instance, when we screen out media commercials and music while keeping an ear cocked for a weather report or an announcement of time. In other cases while we are in classroom or meeting. Selective listening occurs in conversations with people who expect a thorough hearing but the student’s attended only when the subject turns to the student’s favorite topic—perhaps jokes, funny talks, hobbies, or some particular comment. Unless and until you get one of these pet subjects, and student gives more attention on these topics.

7. Semantic and Language Understanding:-

Language is our most important and powerful tool for communication. High and big sounding words definitely impressive. If the student is not able to comprehend the impact of these words, or if they sound ‘Greek’ or ‘Latin’ to him, the entire exercise proves futile. This problem could arise in the interpretation of the words or overall meaning of the message. It is also related to the understanding of the intention behind a particular statement. For ex. Teacher can find some common words like “charge”, “spring”, “check”, “suit”, and “ring”. Words like “minute” and “wind” are pronounced in two different ways to mean two entirely different things. Some words like “present”, “transfer”, “record” are used as a verb or as a noun with a difference in stress in speaking, but no difference in spelling. Similar sounding words like “access” and “excess”, “flour” and “flower”, “cite”, “site” and “sight” can cause misunderstanding in speech.

8. Personal and Professional Problems:-

In other words, we often comprehend and retain only one fourth of what we hear in the classroom. We all want to be more than 25 percent efficient. It's not difficult to see the many problems inefficient listeners can create problems for students and others. Poor listening causes us many personal and professional problems.

listening is most important in communication

A Communication is by definition a two-sided process: a message cannot be communicated unless there is someone to receive it. Discussion of the implications of a communicative approach to the teaching of spoken language tends to emphasis the development of the student’s ability as sender of spoken messages. By looking at the listening to focus on the development of the student’s ability as receiver of spoken messages.
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Geddes,Marion.
‘Listening’ (Communicating in the classroom)

“Seven out of every ten minutes that you and I are conscious, alive and awake we are communicating verbally in one of its forms; and our communication time is devoted 9% to writing, 16% to reading, 30% to speaking, and 45% to listening.”
- Nichols, Ralph
(Communicating, page no- 211)

It shows that, why listening is the most important in the communication skills, because it covers half of the part of the communication to make more effective. Without listening no one can attempt good communication. Listening is not talking and talking is not listening. Listening means listening, it means hearing in a unique way. It means understanding, and attempting to get at the basic elements of the other persons story. “The old saying is that you cannot take any more water out of the well than the size of the pail you lower” Hearing is the process where in sound waves strike the eardrum and cause vibrations that are transmitted to the brain. Listening occurs when the brain reconstructs these electrochemical impulses into a representation of the original sound and them gives them meaning. Listening is an ability of learning tool. It offers unusual opportunities for broadening your knowledge.

Listening as compared to reading is sometimes a faster, more efficient means of gathering information. Many times a listener can obtain valuable information not easily found in written form. A survey indicates that an average adult spend nearly half of his communication time in the act of listening. Most of us listen with less than 50 percent accuracy. Messages are misheard or not heard more often then they are received correctly. And most of us remember less then 50 percent of what we hear. How tragic this is when satisfying our needs depends so heavily people in your personal relationships that they have your attention and your respect. It is a way of showing that you have to say, and in keeping your personal relationship alive. Your friends will like you for letting them talk and for listening attentively while they express themselves.

Listening skill can improve communication in almost every setting. It improves both understanding and remembering the information. They can add in establishing interpersonal relationships on every level from ritual to intimacy. Listening, well, can help to evaluate messages from people who want to affect the behavior and believe. Listening skill helps to learn what verbal and nonverbal messages will be appropriate and clear to receivers. Even, listening can help you as much as speaking.

Listening is a skill that needs to be mastered. Everyone cannot be an essential for developing good listening skills is cultivation of a positive attitude. It is difficult to listen objectively to what the other person says if listening begins on a negative note. A positive inclination enables the receiver to be opened to the suggestions and statements made by the sender. A closed mind and unwillingness listening to ideas that suggest a deviation from the norm lead to an unreceptive attitude.