CAREER ADVANCEMENT CELL

Lesson Plan-6

Listening Skills-2
(Barriers to effective listening)
Introduction:

In the previous session we did a practical activity to enhance listening skills by listening to
English song. This is a session where we share with the students about the possible barriers to
listening.
We have to keep the session very informal, interactive, and full of enthusiasm, fun and energy
so that they look forward to attend the soft skill sessions.
At the same time, we have to draw their attention towards questions like: What are the common
barriers to listening? How can they hamper our work? Why should we and how can we remove
those barriers? Is it possible to remove all the barriers?

Objectives:

To make the students aware about what are barriers to effective listening.
To motivate them to be good listeners by dealing with possible barriers to communication.

Content:
Class Duration: 1 hours
Barriers to effective listening
Tips for good listening
Activity -1 Video
Activity -2
Discussion both activities

: 20 min
: 10 min
: 10 min
: 10 min
: 10 min

Greet the students!

Ask them about possible barriers to communication. Jot down the points they come up with on the
board. Discuss for a while. Start the PPT presentation
Barriers to listening
Definition:
Anything that gets in the way of clear communication is called as a barrier to listening. Given below is
a list of factors.

Physiological factors Physiological barriers arise when the listener suffers from ill health,
weariness , sleeplessness, hearing problems and the like.
It may also arise due to the accent and pronunciation shortcomings of the speaker.

Environmental Barriers Physical Barriers consist of any sound that prevents a person from being
heard. Physical noise interferes with a speakers ability to send messages and with an audiences
ability to receive them. Examples: whispers, cheers, passing cars or intercom interruptions.

Attitudinal Barriers - Thinking that my own ideas are more important than those of other persons or
I am always right and the other is wrong is the major stumbling block in the way of listening.
Listening requires open mind and heart free from negative emotions. If the mind is closed for the
other persons message, there will be no listening.

Psychological factors
The receiver of the message does not consider the speaker to be well informed.
The receiver lets the mind wander rather than stay focused on the message.
The listener perceives the speaker to be lacking in depth or not having adequate authority.

Overload of message It is difficult for the brain to digest the overloaded message. When the
message is lengthy or illogical in sequencing, it becomes more painful to retain the concentration.
As a result listening becomes ineffective. (mix two stories for example)

For Effective listening Get more information

Clarify any ambiguity
Confirm that you have the right information
Summarize
Overcome the barrier jumping to conclusions
Explain 5 W+1H rule

Activity -1: Video (A failure to communicate)

Play the video
Discuss in teams
What was the story?
What was the girl with the veil trying to ask? What caused the gap in communication?
What happened as a result? What do we learn from it?
Note the answers given by students on the board. Discuss them one by one and relate them with the
video.
The gap in communication happened because the speaker was not quick enough to communicate
through non-verbal language. By the time she used the non-verbal communication she missed the train.
This shows that listening is not only at the level of words but even at the non-verbal level.

Activity 2
Whisper the sentence to a student and ask him to pass to next one then repeat the same.
A big black bug bit a big dog on his nose
Discuss:
Conduct the activity at least 3 times.
Let the students enjoy however, make sure that they understand the motive behind this exercise.
The motive is to let them realize that improper listening can be disastrous.