GE Elec 1 – Speaking in Public

GROUP 3
BALUYUT, CARLO M.
BAUN, CLAIRE U.
BUNDALIAN, JENNILYN A.

Not listening does not mean we do not hear. Hearing is a physiological process, involving the
vibration of sound waves on our eardrums and the firing of electrochemical impulses from the
inner ear to the central auditory system of the brain. Meanwhile, listening involves paying close
attention to and making sense of what we hear. Even we think we are listening carefully, we
usually grasp only 50% of what we hear. After 24 hours, we can remember only 10 percent of the
original message. It is little wonder that listening has been called a lost art.

LISTENING IS IMPORTANT
• Avoid Conflict
• You become a better friend
• Can help your public speaking
• You become a better student
• People will perceive you as intelligent and perceptive

LISTENING AND CRITICAL THINKING

One of the ways listening can serve you is by enhancing your skills as a critical
thinker. We can identify four kinds of listening:
• Appreciative listening – for pleasure or enjoyment, as we listen to music, to a comedy
routine, or to an entertaining speech.
• Empathic listening – to provide emotional support for the speaker, as when a psychiatrist
listens to a patient or when we lend a sympathetic ear to a friend in distress.
• Comprehensive listening – to understand the message of a speaker, as when we attend a
classroom lecture or listen to directions for finding a friend’s house.
• Critical listening – to evaluate a message for purposes of accepting or rejecting it, as when
we listen to the sales pitch of a used-car dealer or the campaign speech of a political
candidate.

Critical thinking involves a number of skills. The following skills are central to
comprehensive listening:
• Summarizing information
• Recalling facts
• Distinguishing main points from minor points

Other skills of critical thinking are especially important in critical listening. These are:
• Separating facts from opinions
• Spotting weaknesses from in reasoning
• Judging the soundness of evidence

When your mind is not actively involved, you may be hearing, but not listening. Listening and
critical thinking are so closely allied that training in listening is also training in how to think.

FOUR CAUSES OF POOR LISTENING

1. Not concentrating. The brain is incredibly efficient. Although we talk at a rate of 120 to
150 words a minute. The brain can process 400 to 800 words a minute. This would seem
to make listening very easy, but actually it has the opposite effect. Because we can process
a speaker’s words and still have plenty of spare “brain time”, we are tempted to interrupt
our listening by thinking about other things. There come points at which it is so easy to let
your thoughts wander rather than to concentrate on what is being said. spare brain time –
the difference between the rate at which most people talk (120 to 150 words a minute) and
the rate at which the brain can process language (400 to 800 words a minute).
2. Listening too hard. This happens when we turn into human sponges, soaking up a
speaker’s every word as if every word were equally important. We try to remember all the

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 GE Elec 1 – Speaking in Public

names, all the dates, all the places. In the process, we often miss the speaker’s main point.
What is worse, we may end up confusing the facts as well.
3. Jumping to conclusions. This happens when we put words into a speaker’s mouth. We
are so sure we know what they mean, we do not listen to what they say. We also
prematurely reject a speaker’s ideas as boring or misguided. We may decide early on that
a speaker has nothing valuable to say. Whether it be the information, point of view, or
technique, you are cheating yourself if you prejudge the speaker and choose not to listen.
4. Focusing on delivery and personal appearance. This happens when we judge people by
the way they look or speak and do not listen to what they say. It is easy to become distracted
by a speaker’s accent, personal appearance, or vocal mannerisms and lose sight of the
message. Focusing on a speaker’s delivery or personal appearance is one of the major
sources of interference in the communication process, and it is something we always need
to guard against.

HOW TO BECOME A BETTER LISTENER

1. Take listening seriously. Being a good listener is just as important as

being an effective speaker.
2. Be an active listener. Non-verbal skills such as positive facial
expressions, smiling, and eye contact with the speaker will help you
pay attention (and also make the speaker feel more comfortable).
3. Resist Distractions. Don’t be diverted by the speaker’s appearance or
delivery.
4. Try not to be judgmental. If the speaker has an opinion that differs
from yours, don’t automatically dismiss the speaker’s information. You
might acquire more information that will broaden the horizons of your
opinion.
5. Don’t be diverted by Appearance or Delivery. If the speaker is
wearing distracting clothing or has an accent that is hard to
understand, try to stay focused on the material, not the distractions.
6. Focus your listening. Listen for main points and evidence. Don’t focus
too much on the specific details.
7. Listen for technique. Study the methods other people use to speak
effectively. Try to identify the techniques the speaker is using to get
their message across, such as persuasion, group activities, visual aids,
etc.
8. Develop note-taking skills. Try to create an outline of the main ideas
of the speech.

References (APA 7th Edition)

Saylor Academy (SA, 2012). Stand Up, Speak Out: The Practice and Ethics of Public Speaking.
The Importance of Listening. Accessed February 07, 2024, from:
https://saylordotorg.github.io/text_stand-up-speak-out-the-practice-and-ethics-of-public-
speaking/s07-00-the-importance-of-listening.html

McLean, S. (2005). The Basics of Interpersonal Communication (pp. 43-44). Boston: Pearson/A
and B. Accessed February 10, 2024, from:
http://www.google.com/url?q=https://speakingcenter.uncg.edu/wp-
content/themes/sc/docs/activelistening/TipsonHowtoBecomeaBetterListener.pdf&sa=U&
ved=2ahUKEwiHw7T2yqCEAxWzk68BHbhZAxYQFnoECAkQAg&usg=AOvVaw3oK
zwgZUNoJYZDATpF5iV2

Lucas, S. (2008). The art of public speaking. 10th ed. USA: McGraw-Hill.

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