BARRIERS TO GOOD LISTENING-1

BARRIERS TO GOOD LISTENING-1

Listening is rather very difficult. It is taken for granted by parents, schools, colleges and management institutes. Although the receivers are personally present throughout, most of them are poor listeners. What are the inherent problems in the process of listening and how to overcome these barriers? A few common barriers have been listed below:

(1) Environmental barriers

These are:

(i) Physical distractions

Environmental disturbances come in the way:
 Noisy surroundings
 Loud music
 Noise of machines, office equipment etc
 Noise of road traffic including horns of vehicles

(ii) Loud talking

In some cultures people talk rather loudly. Talking loudly by persons nearby can distract a person from hearing others.

(iii) Visual distractions

A hoarding or poster on the wall may distract attention and may come in the way of catching an important point of the conversation. Similarly, speakers‟ clothes, accessories, make-up like eye shadows etc may distract listeners‟ attention.

(2) Physiological distractions

These may be:
(i) Hearing impairment – It is the case with many old persons
(ii) Hunger – It may make one inattentive
(iii) Tiredness / exhaustion from overwork – It may come in the way of listening
(iv) Pain or injury – It may divert ones‟ attention

(3) Psychological barriers

These are:

(i)Beliefs

Audiences‟ strong views on religion, politics, business area or even sex may come in the way of their paying attention to the speaker. Individuals‟ views impact on their attitude and behaviour.

(ii)Fear

If the subject being talked about is sensitive in nature as it pertains to audiences‟ fears, they may cut it off from their hearing.

(iii) Anger

If a remark by the speaker has made audience angry and upset, it will reduce their ability to absorb the message or they may miss it altogether.

(iv) Anxiety

State of health of a near or dear one may make one anxious about it while at work and the person may miss some parts of the conversation.

(v) Sad memories

While listening to a speech, if someone refers to an incident that has a lot of memories treasured by listeners, it may send them in to a reflective mood and they may miss some parts of conversation.