Small group - Chapter 2

9-13-10


4. What factors (characteristics of the speaker, contextual factors, characteristics of your own personality, etc.) interfere with your ability to listen?

Depending on the day, there can be many factors which interfere with my own ability to listen. One of the biggest things that interferes with my ability to listen is how the speaker is delivering their message. If a speaker is simply reading from a prompt, script, or book, it is often very hard for me to stay focused on what they are saying. I often ask the question to myself, “why should I spend my time listening to you read, when I could read it for myself?” This is especially the case for teachers whose method of “teaching” is to read from the textbook!

Another factor that greatly influences my ability to listen is the context of the situation I am in. If I am in a room that is quiet, and at moderate temperature, then I am much more likely to listen intently than if I was in an extremely cold or warm room. This is also the case for a room with lots of noise, or outside distractions. If I am at an outside service or concert, you often find that my attention is captured by the traffic, nature, and people around me.

If a speaker is obviously not enthusiastic about what they are trying to communicate, then I will rarely pay any attention to them! My logic is simple in this case; “If you are not enthusiastic about your subject, then why should I be as well?” However, if a speaker is excited about their topic, I am much more likely to listen to them! In fact, I will probably listen to a lecture on College Algebra intently if the professor is excited about what he is teaching!

5. What techniques do you personally use when you are trying to remember what someone tells you.

I use many different memory techniques. One of my most commonly used techniques is to remember exactly what was happening at the time of the conversation. Often, if I can recreate a scene in my mind, whether it be a certain out of place mark on the white board, a plane flying overhead, an interesting plant, or the way the wind is blowing, I can replay the situation in my head to remember what they said!

Another technique I use to remember what someone tells me is to associate it with something. This could be either in the form of a picture in my head, or a hand motion. This is mostly used for remembering facts, definitions, terms, and other types of information for a class. Often times the more abstract the association, the better I can remember! For example, if a professor was teaching about the pitfalls to listening effectively, I might devise a series of hand motions to help me remember the list. Each motion would start where the last one left off to help me remember the whole list in order.