PROCESS OF LISTENING

PROCESS OF LISTENING

It entails following five steps:

(1) Sensing

It is physical hearing and assimilating through all the five senses – hearing, seeing, smelling, tasting and touching. It should also include taking down notes. However, reception of message can get blocked because of:
 Interfering noises and distractions
 Inattention by audience
 Impaired hearing etc
Listeners have to work hard to avoid distraction and focus on the message.

(2) Interpreting

It is decoding in our mind and absorbing the message being delivered. As people listen, they assign meanings to words through their own mental filters comprising of their:
 Beliefs
 Assumptions
 Values
 Ideas
 Expectations
 Roles
 Needs
 Personal history
Thus role of the persons listening to a speech is very vital. They should pay attention to non-verbal cues because body language of gestures, sounds, postures and expressions do not tell lies. If they have learnt the art and science of understanding speeches well, it increases accuracy of their listening.

(3) Evaluating

It is forming opinion about the message heard. If the subject matter is complex or it is a topic that has emotional overtones, effort is required to:
 Sort out the remarks made by the speaker
 Separate facts from opinions
 Evaluate quality of evidence
As a rule, listeners dismiss ideas from an unattractive and abrasive speaker. Also, they easily embrace ideas of „charismatic‟ speakers.

(4) Remembering

It is storing message after receiving in the memory for future use. Good speakers facilitate storage by doing the followings:
 Comparing the message with the previous similar messages
 Highlighting the components of transition in the new message

 Summarizing and paraphrasing the message

(5) Responding

It is reacting to the content of the message in some fashion. When audience is large, it may take the form of:

 Silence

 Applause

 Laughter etc