Again, I'm Ms. Gadlian Cortado and I am your OLC here in Oral Communication in Context. Our topic for today is all about listening. And when we say listening, this is the ability to accurately receive and interpret message in the communication process. And of course, in listening, it will require your full attention and focus in order for you to understand the message that was being sent by the sender. So before we begin, I have here a question.
Why do you think listening is important, anyone? For good communication, according to NERA, that is correct. So of course, listening is very important in order for us to communicate effectively.
And of course, it will be your advantage when you know how to listen and to understand the message. But what if you don't have the ability to listen effectively? that you will misunderstand the message, right?
So that is why listening is very important. And that is one of the skills that you need to enhance in order for you to communicate well with other people. Why is listening important?
According to this, listening is the most basic kind of communicating activity that we do daily. In 2009, a researcher said that we spend 45% of our time listening. and that 90% of the information we gather are retained and received through our eyes and ears.
It was stated in studies that the level of our listening effectiveness is only about 50%, which means that we do not receive and understand the entirety of the message. Listening helps us stay focused on the message being sent, aids in comprehension, and may improve or at the least maintain our relationships with other people. So now we will talk about the difference between listening and hearing. So when you say listening, listening is a process where we use our sensory experiences or our background knowledge to recognize, interpret spoken or verbal language to satisfy a need. So here in listening, it means you are paying attention and you're interpreting the sounds that you hear.
For example, your friend tells you a story about what happened to him all day. And of course, as your friend speaks, it will require your full attention and you will start to understand his experience on that day. So once you understand and interpret the message of your friend, that is also the time when you will have a comment and you will also ask questions about his experience on that day. So that is listening.
you are paying attention and you're interpreting the sounds that you hear. While here in hearing, hearing is when we refer to the plain act of receiving sounds. So here in hearing, we are aware of the noise or sounds, but we don't interpret it. We just receive the sound waves through our ears. Example is when you're watching television, you can still hear the dog barking outside your house.
So that is hearing. So here in the listening and hearing, you use both of your ears, right? But that doesn't mean that they have the same meaning. So again, here in listening, you are paying attention and you're interpreting the sounds that you hear. While here in hearing, you are aware of the noise and sounds, but you don't interpret it.
So that is the difference between listening and hearing. Here in the listening, you just receive the sound waves through your ears. Now we have the models of listening.
We have the active listening and passive listening. Let us first have the active listening. Active listening requires effort and concentration on the listener's part. Listening to lectures, discussions, or conferences, this action demands your full attention and concentration so you can understand the message.
Here in the active listening, you are giving your... full attention to the person who is speaking or to the sender of the message. So from the word itself, active, you are listening actively or you are listening attentively. And of course, it requires your effort and concentration on if you are the listener, right? Well, here in the passive listening, passive listening does not rely on focus.
or effort. This usually happens when you do something else while listening. Simultaneously listening to two sounds divide your attention which leads to superficial or non-challenged listening.
This also happens when you listen to while away your time or when you try to ease up from stress. An example can be listening to the radio while you talk to a parent. So here in the passive listening, it is a lot like hearing. So you will just hear the message, but you're not doing an effort to understand the information.
And also, here in the passive listening, you're not asking questions and you don't interrupt the speaker just to ask questions. Unlike in the active listening, wherein you ask questions or you are listening actively or you are listening attentively. So that is the difference between the passive listening and active listening. So now we will talk about the barriers to listening.
We have the noise. We've studied noise, right? So according to this, this is any kind of sensory stimuli that affects the transmission of messages. It can dampen or boost your speaking engagements depending on how you deal with them or utilize them.
So again, here in the noise, this is any barrier to effective communication. And of course, this is also any distractions that prevents the receiver from paying attention. Examples are radio playing in the background while you're listening to me, right? So we have two kinds of noise.
We have the external and internal or external noise and internal noise. According to this, these are kinds of noise that come from physical objects. The clue word here is the word objects, such as the radio, rooster outside your house, temperature of the room, uncomfortable chair, taste of food, etc. That disturbs you and prevents you from giving your complete focus and attention. to what you're listening to.
While here in internal, these are emotional or mental distractions that interfere with your attention while listening. Daydreaming, prejudice against the speaker, anticipating and predicting what will come up next can affect your focus. So in simple words, when we say external noise, this is mostly on the environment or the object.
While here in the internal noise, this is also called a psychological noise internal distractions. So these are the emotional or mental distractions. So in order for you to understand these two kinds of noise, I have here an example of external or extrinsic and internal or intrinsic noise.
So again, when we say extrinsic noise, it is more on the objects and the environment. Example is hot or cold room. Of course, it will affect your environment. Listening, right? When you're listening to someone.
Noisy neighbors, uncomfortable chair, jeeps and buses outside windows, classmate fidgeting with his pen, old air conditioner. While here in intrinsic, again, these are emotional or mental distractions or within the body. Examples are feeling of pain or hunger, family problem, financial problem, fear of teacher.
sleeplessness, constant self-focus. So these are under the intrinsic noise and those are the those are under the noise the extrinsic noise and of course the intrinsic noise. So now we will talk about understanding yourself and understanding others.
Preconceived notions about yourself will prevent you from getting the entirety of the message. How you feel about the speaker and the topic also affect how you listen to someone. If you see yourself superior to the speaker, you will have a hard time listening to them because you tend to mentally contradict their messages or criticize them in your mind.
If you find the topic boring, you tend to space out and just hear certain parts which catches your interest. This is also called selective hearing. Understanding others, these are about the preconceived notions or beliefs about others. You judge the speaker according to voice quality, gestures, appearance, or social standing.
These actions and thoughts affect how you listen to the speaker. You become preoccupied in criticizing the way they look or sound, which makes you either an attentive listener or someone who totally disregards the messages coming from this speaker. So here in the understanding yourself, It is more on how you see yourself. And here in the Understanding Others, its focus is...
on how to see other people, of course. And of course, it will affect the communication on how you see yourself and how you see others. So listening well.
Listening is a fundamental component in communication. Practicing habits in improving your listening skills not only make you a more competent member of the workforce or school, it enhances your relationships with yourself and with other people. Business magazines...
such as Forbes and Success Magazine, still discuss the importance of practicing good listening habits to improve or maintain relationships at work and in business. So we have here a guide in order for you to improve your listening skill. Number one, stop talking.
So when someone is talking, all you need to do is to listen. You don't need to speak. And also, don't interrupt the speaker. them finish first and give them time to speak and hear what they want to say.
So if it is not your turn to speak, don't speak. Okay? According to Mark Twain, if we were supposed to talk more than we listen, we would have two tongues and one ear. So that is from Mark Twain. Number two, concentrate on your task.
What's your task? Of course, listening. When you're listening with someone, don't...
Think about anything else. Focus on your task, which is listening to what is being said by the sender, of course. Number three, don't criticize the speaker.
So sometimes we cannot deny that we're based on the physical appearance of the speaker if we're going to listen, right? But of course, let us not forget that more than anything, the message of the speaker is the most important. Not on the looks or his voice or what.
Number four, remove distractions. Focus on what is being said. So in order for you to understand the message of the speaker, you need to remove distractions.
Like for example now, using your phone while listening to me. So instead that you will understand our lesson for today, your attention will be focused on something else. So again, focus on what is being said.
Number five. Avoid emotional reactions. Emphasize.
So when you're listening to the speaker, you have to manage your emotional reaction or you need to react well. You need to see the topic from the perspective of the speaker. And you need to always keep an open mind. Number six, you have to be patient.
So all of us, we experience being a speaker, right? And there are instances where we really stop and think first about... what we're going to say. So of course, as a listener, you have to be patient. Number seven, guard against prejudice.
We've studied prejudice, right? So again, when you say prejudice, it is an opinion on someone based on that person's particular membership to a group. So if ever the speaker comes from a different background, you have to let go of your idea or preconceived idea about their culture.
And of course, you have to Focus more on the message that they're trying to say. Just like what I've said a while ago, the most important is the message that the speaker is trying to say. Number eight, focus on main points. So when we are listening, we don't have to remember every word. All we need to do is to focus on the idea or focus on the main points of the speaker.
Number nine, take... Take down notes. So taking down notes is important, right?
It only means that we are paying attention or we are listening to what is being said. Number 10, watch for verbal and non-verbal communication. So of course, when you're listening to someone, you also need to focus or watch their or observe their non-verbal communication, not only in the verbal. You need to observe their facial expressions, their gestures, eye movements, and more. So before we end, I just want to share these quotes to all of you.
According to Brian H. McHill, one of the most sincere forms of respect is actually listening to what another. So that would be all for today. If you have questions or clarifications, you may now chat it on the chat box.