Two Sides of Effective Oral Communication

1. Listening

2. Presenting
 Listening
• Listening is to give one's attention to sound.
• Listening involves complex affective, cognitive, and
behavioral processes.
• Affective processes include the motivation to attend
to others.
• Cognitive processes include attending to,
understanding, receiving, and interpreting content and
relational messages
• and behavioral processes include responding with
verbal and nonverbal feedback
 What is listening?

• Paying attention towards a sound, assigning meaning

to it and restoring whatever is being heard and
recalling the same whenever required.
 Characteristics of Listening

• Listening involves
 Hearing
 Understanding
 Retaining
 Recalling
• It is different from hearing. Hearing is physical
activity (sensation) and listening is mental activity
(cognition).
• Listening is a two-way process.
• It is a skill that can be learnt
• To be a good speaker one has to be a good listener.
 Stages in Listening

• Selection of stimulus
• Reception: The complicated hearing mechanism picks
up the chosen sound waves and transfers them to the
brain (hearing).
• Understanding
• Retaining
• Recalling
 Factors Affecting Listening

1. Personality traits
2. Verbal competence
3. Note taking
4. Intelligence
5. Interest and motivation
6. Hearing ability
7. Noise and barriers
Barriers to Effective Listening
 Perceptual Barriers

1. Frame of reference: Although the sender may

want to convey a particular meaning, it is
listeners frame of reference which
determines the actual meaning assigned to
the message.

2. Experience and expectations: People

perceive stimuli according to their experience
and expectations.
3. Relationship with speaker: subordinate will pay
attention to powerful and credible supervisor and
ignore comments of a supervisor with low credibility.

4. Selective perception: people selectively pay attention

to stimuli. Anything beyond their belief is ignored.

5. Halo Effect
6. Stereo type
7. Projection
 Speaker Related Barriers

1. Speaking either too fast or too slow.

2. Too loud to hear
3. Voice is not audible
4. Speaker not using proper punctuations and pause.
5. Speaker is too active or inactive
6. Language not understood by audience.
 Listener related barriers
• Uninterested listeners

• Know-all-type attitude

• Rejecting person

• Mental state of listener

• Criticizing physical appearance

• Physiological limitations:

 Most individuals have ability to speak about 120 words per minute.

 While our brain have the ability to recognize words at the rate of 600 words
per minute.

 This gap creates a great deal of idle time.

 Environment Related Barriers
• Extreme hot and cold conditions
• Noise outside
• Poor light and ventilation
• Uncomfortable seats
• Odd timings
 Principles of effective Listening

1. Look for areas of interest

2. Overlook errors of delivery
3. Postpone judgment
4. Listen for ideas
5. Takes notes
6. Be actively responsive
7. Concentration
8. Listen both implicit and explicit message
9. Assist and encourage speaker
 Good Listeners VS Poor Listeners
Good Listener Poor Listener
1 Do not interrupt Over-talkative
2 Remain patient Inattentive
3 Make eye contact No-eye-contact
4 Show interest Yes but approach
5 Look attentive Very critical
6 Ask open questions Poor concentration
7 Concentrate Interrupt
 Types of Listening

1. Attentive Listening: paying attention on the message

2. Pretending Listening: Pretending through body

language that message is understood

3. Selective Listening: selecting desired part of the

message and ignoring undesired part.

4. Empathic Listening: trying to understand the person

emotionally
 Developing Listening Skills

1. Concentration
2. Mental Alertness
3. Empathy
4. Comprehension: What is the main idea, hw they are
arranged, what are the minor points
5. Appreciation
 Physical and mental relaxation
 Receptive attitude
 Empathy
6. Note taking
 Tips for effective listening

1. Establish rapport with speaker

2. Make eye contact
3. Positive facial expressions
4. Upright posture
5. Remove distractions
6. Be patient
7. Avoid arguments and criticism
8. Ask questions
9. Don’t over talk
10. Restate what the speaker has said