Listening process

Lesson 2:  Listening Process

What is listening?

Listening involves taking the words and sounds we hear and converting them into something that makes sense to us.
Listening is an active process that constructs meaning from both verbal and nonverbal messages.

Why Do We Listen?

1.    We listen to gather information about something.

2.    We listen to understand.

3.    We listen for enjoyment.

4.    We listen to socialize.

5.    We listen to give others chance to reason out.

6.    Learning new things requires that we listen. 

Stages in the Listening Process

There are many factors that can interfere with listening, so you need to be able to manage a number of mental tasks at the same time in order to be a successful listener. 
Listening process was divided into five stages.

A. The Receiving Stage - The first stage of the listening process, which involves hearing and attending.

Hearing is the physiological process of registering sound waves as they hit the eardrum.

As obvious as it may seem, in order to effectively gather information through listening, we must first be able to physically hear what we're listening to. The clearer the sound, the easier the listening process becomes.

Listeners are often bombarded with a variety of auditory stimuli all at once, so they must differentiate which of those stimuli are speech sounds and which are not. Effective listening involves being able to focus in on speech sounds while disregarding other noise.

Paired with hearing, attending is the other half of the receiving stage in the listening process. Attending is the process of accurately identifying and interpreting particular sounds we hear as words. The sounds we hear have no meaning until we give them their meaning in context.

Attending also involves being able to discern human speech, also known as "speech segmentation. "  Identifying auditory stimuli as speech but not being able to break those speech sounds down into sentences and words would be a failure of the listening process. Discerning speech segmentation can be a more difficult activity when the listener is faced with an unfamiliar language.

Listening at the Receiving Stage
The first stage in the process of listening is receiving the message. At this stage you listen not only to what is said (verbally and nonverbally) but also to what is omitted.

Remember:

1. Focus your attention on the speaker’s verbal and nonverbal messages, on what is said and on what isn’t said. Avoid focusing your attention on what you’ll say next; if you begin to rehearse your responses, you’re going to miss what the speaker says next.

2. Avoid distractions in the environment; if necessary, shut off the stereo or and turn off your cell phone. Put down the newspaper or magazine; close your laptop.

3. Maintain your role as listener and avoid interrupting. Avoid interrupting as much as possible. It will only prevent you from hearing what the speaker is saying. This is not to imply that you should give feedback cues—minimal verbal or nonverbal responses (“I see,” “you’re right,” head nodding, widening of your eyes)—that say, “I’m listening.”

 
B.  The Understanding Stage - The stage of listening during which the listener determines the context and meanings of the words that are heard.

comprehension - The totality of intentions that are pertinent to the context of a given discussion.

Understanding or comprehension is "shared meaning between parties in a communication transaction" and constitutes the first step in the listening process. Determining the context and meaning of individual words, as well as assigning meaning in language, is essential to understanding sentences. This, in turn, is essential to understanding a speaker's message.

Once the listeners understand the speaker's main point, they can begin to sort out the rest of the information they are hearing and decide where it belongs in their mental outline.  Understanding what we hear is a huge part of our everyday lives, particularly in terms of gathering basic information, but without understanding what we hear, none of these listening would relay any practical information to us. 

One tactic for better understanding a speaker's meaning is to ask questions. Asking questions allows the listener to fill in any holes he or she may have in the mental reconstruction of the speaker's message. 

Listening at the Understanding Stage
After receiving the message, you process it; you extract the meaning from the message. You can improve your listening understanding in a variety of ways:

1. Avoid assuming you understand what the speaker is going to say before he or she actually says it. If you do make assumptions, these will likely prevent you from accurately listening to what the speaker wants to say.

2. See the speaker’s messages from the speaker’s point of view. Avoid judging the message until you fully understand it as the speaker intended it.

3. Ask questions for clarification, if necessary; ask for additional details or examples if they’re needed. This shows not only that you’re listening—which the speaker will appreciate—but also that you want to learn more. Material that is not clearly understood is likely to be easily forgotten.

4. Rephrase (paraphrase) the speaker’s ideas into your own words. This can be done silently or aloud. If done silently, it will help you rehearse and learn the material; if done aloud, it also helps you confirm your understanding of what the speaker is saying and gives the speaker an opportunity to clarify any misunderstandings.

 
C.  The Evaluating Stage - Once we understand what we hear, we can focus in on the relevant information.  The stage of the listening process during which the listener critically assesses the information she's received (both qualitatively and quantitatively) from the speaker. Evaluating allows the listener to form an opinion of what she's heard and, if necessary, to begin developing a response. 

·         tangential - Merely touching, referring to a tangent

·         assess - To determine, estimate or judge the value of; to evaluate

During the evaluating stage, the listener determines whether or not the information she's heard and understood from the speaker is well constructed or disorganized, biased or unbiased, true or false, significant or insignificant. She also ascertains how and why the speaker has come up with and conveyed the message that she's delivered. This may involve considerations of a speaker's personal or professional motivations and goals.

The evaluating stage occurs most effectively once the listener fully understands what the speaker is trying to say. While we can, and sometimes do, form opinions of information and ideas that we don't fully understand--or even that we misunderstand--doing so is not often ideal in the long run. Having a clear understanding of a speaker's message allows a listener to evaluate that message without getting bogged down in ambiguities or spending unnecessary time and energy addressing points that may be tangential or otherwise nonessential. This stage of critical analysis is important for a listener in terms of how what she's heard will affect her own ideas, decisions, actions, and/or beliefs. 

Listening at the Evaluating Stage.
Once you’ve received, understood, and have the message in memory, you need to evaluate it. After all, not all messages are equal—some are lies, some are truths; some are significant, some are trivial; some are constructive, some are destructive.

Remember: 

1. Resist evaluation until you fully understand the speaker’s point of view. This is not always easy, but it’s always essential. If you put a label on what the speaker is saying (ultraconservative, bleeding-heart liberal), you’ll hear the remainder of the messages through these labels.

2. Distinguish facts from opinions and personal interpretations by the speaker. And, most important, fix these labels in mind with the information.

3. Identify any biases, self-interests, or prejudices that may lead the speaker to slant unfairly what is said. It’s often wise to ask if the material is being presented fairly or if this person is slanting it in some way.

4. Recognize fallacious forms of “reasoning” speakers may use. Some of the more popular ones.

D.  The Responding Stage - The responding stage is when the listener provides verbal and/or nonverbal reactions to what she hears.

There are many ways, both verbal and nonverbal, to respond to what you hear.

The responding stage is the stage of the listening process wherein the listener provides verbal and/or nonverbal reactions based on short- or long-term memory. 

A listener can respond to what she hears either verbally or non-verbally. Nonverbal signals can include gestures such as nodding, making eye contact, tapping her pen, fidgeting, scratching or cocking her head, smiling, rolling her eyes, grimacing, or any other body language. These kinds of responses can be displayed purposefully or involuntarily.  Nonverbal responses like nodding or eye contact allow the listener to communicate her level of interest without interrupting the speaker, thereby preserving the speaker/listener roles. When a listener responds verbally to what she hears and remembers—for example, with a question or a comment—the speaker/listener roles are reversed, at least momentarily.

Responding verbally might involve asking a question, requesting additional information, redirecting or changing the focus of a conversation, cutting off a speaker, or repeating what a speaker has said back to her in order to verify that the received message matches the intended message.

Responding adds action to the listening process, which would otherwise be an outwardly passive process. Oftentimes, the speaker looks for verbal and nonverbal responses from the listener to determine if and how her message is being understood and/or considered. Based on the listener's responses, the speaker can choose to either adjust or continue with the delivery of her message.

Listening at the Responding Stage
After you evaluate the message, you’re likely to respond in some way. And, of course, a speaker expects a response.

Remember:
1. Support the speaker throughout the speaker’s conversation by using (and varying) listening cues, such as head nods and minimal responses such as “I see” or “mm-hmm.” Using the “like” icon, poking back, reposting, and commenting on another’s photos or posts will also prove supportive.

2. Own your responses. Take responsibility for what you say. Instead of saying, “Nobody will want to do that” say something like “I don’t want to do that.” Use the anonymity that most social networks allow with discretion.

3. Resist “responding to another’s feelings” with “solving the person’s problems” (as men are often accused of doing) unless, of course, you’re asked for advice. Oftentimes, people simply want to vent and just want you to hear what they have to say.

4. Focus on the other person. Avoid multitasking when you’re listening. Show the speaker that he or she is your primary focus. You can’t be a supportive listener, if you’re also listening to a CD, so take off the headphones; shut down the iPhone and the television; turn away from the computer screen. And, instead of looking around the room, look at the speaker; the speaker’s eyes should be your main focus.

5. Avoid being a thought-completing listener who listens a little and then finishes the speaker’s thought. This is especially inappropriate when listening to someone who might stutter or have word-finding difficulties. Instead, express respect (and a real willingness to listen) by giving the speaker time to complete his or her thoughts. Completing someone’s thoughts often communicates the message that nothing important is going to be said (“I already know it”).

 
E.  The Remembering Stage - The remembering stage occurs as the listener categorizes and retains the information she's gathering from the speaker.  Remembering what you hear is key to effective listening.

·         recall - Memory; the ability to remember.

·         memory - The ability of an organism to record information about things or events with the facility of recalling them later at will.

The result--memory--allows the person to record information about people, objects and events for later recall. This happens both during and after the speaker's delivery.Memory is essential throughout the listening process. We depend on our memory to fill in the blanks when we're listening and to let us place what we're hearing at the moment in the context of what we've heard before. 

Remembering previous information is critical to moving forward. Similarly, making associations to past remembered information can help a listener understand what she is currently hearing in a wider context. In listening to a lecture about the symptoms of depression, for example, a listener might make a connection to the description of a character in a novel that she read years before. 

Using information immediately after receiving it enhances information retention and lessens the forgetting curve, or the rate at which we no longer retain information in our memory. Conversely, retention is lessened when we engage in mindless listening, and little effort is made to understand a speaker's messages.

Because everyone has different memories, the speaker and the listener may attach different meanings to the same statement. In this sense, establishing common ground in terms of context is extremely important, both for listeners and speakers. 

Listening at the Remembering Stage
 It would help little if you received and understood the message but didn’t remember it. If you want to remember what someone says or the names of various people, this information needs to pass from your short-term memory (the memory you use, say, to remember a phone number just long enough to write it down) into long-term memory (or relatively permanent memory). Short-term memory is limited in capacity—you can hold only a small amount of information there. Long-term memory is unlimited. To facilitate the passage of information from short- to long-term memory, here are FOUR suggestions:

1. Focus your attention on the central ideas. Even in the most casual of conversations, there are central ideas. Fix these in your mind. Repeat these ideas to yourself as you continue to listen. Avoid focusing on minor details that often lead to detours in listening and in conversation.

2. Organize what you hear; summarize the message in a more easily retained form, but take care not to ignore crucial details or qualifications. If you chunk the material into categories, you’ll be able to remember more information. For example, if you want to remember 15 or 20 items to buy in the supermarket, you’ll remember more of them if you group them into chunks—say, produce, canned goods, and meats.

3. Unite the new with the old; relate new information to what you already know. Avoid treating new information as totally apart from all else you know. There’s probably some relationship and if you identify it, you’re more like to remember the new material.

4. Repeat names and key concepts to yourself or, if appropriate, aloud. By repeating the names or key concepts, you in effect rehearse these names and concepts, and as a result you’ll find them easier to learn and remember. If you’re introduced to Alice, you’ll stand a better chance of remembering her name if you say, “Hi, Alice” than if you say just “Hi.”

Source: Boundless Communications. Jul. 2014. Retrieved from https://www.boundless.com/communications

Communication Process

Lesson I:  Communication Process

A.   Nature and Importance of Communication

What is communication?

Communication is the exchange and flow of information and ideas from one person to another; it involves a sender transmitting an idea, information, or feeling to a receiver.

Effective communication occurs only if the receiver understands the exact information or idea that the sender intended to transmit. This definition suggests that for communication to occur, there must be some common thinking between two parties.  Establishing this commonality in thinking is not always as easy as it might seem; many attempts to communicate are unsuccessful. The communication process is often very complex. Success depends on such factors as the nature of the message, the audience’s interpretation of it, and the environment in which it is received. The receiver’s perception of the source and the medium used to transmit the message may also affect the ability to communicate, as do many other factors. Words, pictures, sounds, and colors may have different meanings to different audiences, and people’s perceptions and interpretations of them vary.

The Communication Process

Communicating with others involves three primary steps:

·         Thought -  information exists in the mind of the sender. This can be a concept,                           idea, information, or feelings.

·         Encoding -  a message is sent to a receiver in words or other symbols.

·         Decoding - the receiver translates the words or symbols into a concept or                                     information that he or she can understand.

During the transmitting of the message, two elements will be received: content and context.

Content is the actual words or symbols of the message that is known as language — the spoken and written words combined into phrases that make grammatical and semantic sense. We all use and interpret the meanings of words differently, so even simple messages can be misunderstood. And many words have different meanings to confuse the issue even more.

Context is the way the message is delivered and is known as paralanguage — it is the nonverbal elements in speech such as the tone of voice, the look in the sender's eyes, body language, hand gestures, and state of emotions (anger, fear, uncertainty, confidence, etc.) that can be detected. Although paralanguage or context often cause messages to be misunderstood as we believe what we see more than what we hear; they are powerful communicators that help us to understand each other. Indeed, we often trust the accuracy of nonverbal behaviors more than verbal behaviors.

Barriers to Effective Communication:

Anything that prevents understanding of the message is a barrier to communication. Many physical and psychological barriers exist:

·         Culture, background, and bias —

We allow our past experiences to change the meaning of the message. Our culture, background, and bias can be good as they allow us to use our past experiences to understand something new, it is when they change the meaning of the message that they interfere with the communication process.

·         Noise —

Equipment or environmental noise impedes clear communication. The sender and the receiver must both be able to concentrate on the messages being sent to each other.

·         Ourselves —

Focusing on ourselves, rather than the other person can lead to confusion and conflict. The “Me Generation” must be tossed aside for effective communication to occur. Some of the factors that cause this are defensiveness (we feel someone is attacking us), superiority (we feel we know more that the other), and ego (we feel we are the center of the activity).

·         Perception —

If we feel the person is talking too fast, not fluently, does not articulate clearly, etc., we may dismiss the person. Also our preconceived attitudes affect our ability to listen. We may listen uncritically to persons of high status and dismiss those of low status.

·         Message —

Distractions happen when we focus on the facts rather than the idea being communicated. Our educational institutions reinforce this with tests and questions. Semantic distractions occur when a word is used differently than you prefer. For example, the word chairman instead of chairperson, may cause you to focus on the word rather than the message.

·         Environmental —

Bright lights, an attractive person, unusual sights, or any other stimulus provides a potential distraction.

·         Smothering —

We take it for granted that the impulse to send useful information is automatic. Not true! Too often we believe that certain information has no value to others or they are already aware of the facts.

·         Stress —

People do not see things the same way when under stress. What we see and believe at a given moment is influenced by our psychological frames of references — our beliefs, values, knowledge, experiences, and goals.

These barriers can be thought of as filters, that is, the message leaves the sender, goes through the above filters, and is then heard by the receiver. These filters may muffle the message. And the way to overcome filters is through active listening and feedback.

B.  Elements of Communication Process

 

Human communication is interpersonal, it is purposive and it is a process.
By process we mean that steps have to be taken and in a set/particular order to achieve a desired result/goal. There are seven important elements of the communication process: (1) sender (2) ideas (3) encoding (4) communication channel (5) receiver (6) decoding and (7) feedback.

o   Sender (encoder):

·         The person who intends to convey the message with the intention of passing information and ideas to others is known as sender or communicator. The sender also known as the encoder decides on the message to be sent, the best/most effective way that it can be sent. All of this is done bearing the receiver in mind. It is his/her job to CONCEPTUALIZE.

o   Ideas (message):

·         This is the subject matter of the communication. This may be an opinion, attitude, feelings, views, orders, or suggestions.

o   Encoding:

·         Since the subject matter of communication is theoretical and intangible, its further passing requires use of certain symbols such as words, actions or pictures etc. Conversion of subject matter into these symbols is the process of encoding.

o   Communication Channel:

·         The person who is interested in communicating has to choose the channel for sending the required information, ideas etc. This information is transmitted to the receiver through certain channels which may be either formal or informal. 

Channels of Communication

A formal communication channel transmits organizational information, such as goals or policies and procedures. Messages in a formal communication channel follow a chain of command. This means that information flows from a manager to an employee. Examples of formal communication channels are newsletters, business plans, annual reports and employer manuals.

Within a formal working environment, there always exists an informal communication network. Informal communication channels fall outside of the formal chain of command structure. Examples of informal communication channels are quality circles, teamwork and lunchtime in the cafeteria of an organization. Employees can still receive important organizational information but in a relaxed, informal atmosphere.

·         The channel is that which is responsible for the delivery of the chosen message form. For example post office, internet, radio.

MEDIUM
The medium is the immediate form which a message takes. For example, a message may be communicated in the form of a letter, in the form of an email or face to face in the form of a speech.

CONTEXT
Communication does not take place in a vacuum. The context of any communication act is the environment surrounding it. This includes, among other things, place, time, event, and attitudes of sender and receiver.

o   Receiver (decoder):

·         Receiver is the person who receives the message or for whom the message is meant for. It is the receiver who tries to understand the message in the best possible manner in achieving the desired objectives.  The receiver or the decoder is responsible for extracting/decoding meaning from the message. The receiver is also responsible for providing feedback to the sender. It is his/her job to INTERPRET.

o   Decoding:

·         The person who receives the message or symbol from the communicator tries to convert the same in such a way so that he may extract its meaning to his complete understanding.

o   Feedback:

·         Feedback is the process of ensuring that the receiver has received the message and understood in the same sense as sender meant it. This is important as it determines whether or not the decoder grasped the intended meaning and whether communication was successful.

Carl Rogers listed five main categories of feedback. They are listed in the order in which they occur most frequently in daily conversations.

·         Evaluative: Making a judgment about the worth, goodness, or appropriateness of the other person's statement.

·         Interpretive: Paraphrasing — attempting to explain what the other person's statement means.

·         Supportive: Attempting to assist or bolster the other communicator.

·         Probing: Attempting to gain additional information, continue the discussion, or clarify a point.

·         Understanding: Attempting to discover completely what the other communicator means by her statements.

**The communication process is dynamic, continuous, irreversible, and contextual. It is not possible to participate in any element of the process without acknowledging the existence and functioning of the other elements.

 

Non-verbal Behaviors of Communication

To deliver the full impact of a message, use nonverbal behaviors to raise the channel of interpersonal communication:

• Eye contact: This helps to regulate the flow of communication. It signals interest in others and increases the speaker's credibility. People who make eye contact open the flow of communication and convey interest, concern, warmth, and credibility.
• Facial Expressions: Smiling is a powerful cue that transmits happiness, friendliness, warmth, and liking. So, if you smile frequently you will be perceived as more likable, friendly, warm and approachable. Smiling is often contagious and people will react favorably. They will be more comfortable around you and will want to listen more.
• Gestures: If you fail to gesture while speaking you may be perceived as boring and stiff. A lively speaking style captures the listener's attention, makes the conversation more interesting, and facilitates understanding.
• Posture and body orientation: You communicate numerous messages by the way you talk and move. Standing erect and leaning forward communicates to listeners that you are approachable, receptive and friendly. Interpersonal closeness results when you and the listener face each other. Speaking with your back turned or looking at the floor or ceiling should be avoided as it communicates disinterest.
• Proximity: Cultural norms dictate a comfortable distance for interaction with others. You should look for signals of discomfort caused by invading the other person's space. Some of these are: rocking, leg swinging, tapping, and gaze aversion.
• Vocal: Speaking can signal nonverbal communication when you include such vocal elements as: tone, pitch, rhythm, timbre, loudness, and inflection. For maximum teaching effectiveness, learn to vary these six elements of your voice. One of the major criticisms of many speakers is that they speak in a monotone voice. Listeners perceive this type of speaker as boring and dull.

Speaking Hints

• When speaking or trying to explain something, ask the listeners if they are following you.
• Ensure the receiver has a chance to comment or ask questions.
• Try to put yourself in the other person's shoes — consider the feelings of the receiver.
• Be clear about what you say.
• Look at the receiver.
• Make sure your words match your tone and body language (nonverbal behaviors).
• Vary your tone and pace.
• Do not be vague, but on the other hand, do not complicate what you are saying with too much detail.
• Do not ignore signs of confusion.