CHAPTER 5

Listening and Critical Thinking

Three men and a woman wearing hard hats are
standing on a construction site. The woman shows
a digital tablet to one of the men standing next to
her. large image navigator opens in a modal

RGtimeline/Alamy Stock Photo

Access the text alternative for Three Men and a
Woman Wearing Hard Hats Graphic.

When you have read and thought about this chapter, you will be able
to
1. discuss three reasons why listening is important in our lives.
2. describe how the process of listening differs from hearing.
3. analyze how noise, perceptions, and your own characteristics can influence the
listening process.
4. apply critical thinking, nonverbal, and verbal strategies to become a better
listener.
5. apply strategies for effective listening to specific situations, including the
workplace, the classroom, and mediated environments.
6. apply ethical listening behaviors.
Listening is our most frequently used but least studied communication skill.
In this chapter you will learn about the listening process, some factors that
can inhibit effective listening, different types of listening, and strategies for
becoming a more effective listener. Our hope is that you will learn that
listening, like any other communication behavior, is a skill that must be
developed through forethought and practice.
Page 99

Our listening skills begin to develop when we are young children as our family
members and friends read aloud or simply recount stories. Through stories, we
learn to recognize and remember details, identify patterns and plots, and
pick up on certain emotional cues. As we transition into adulthood, we must
continue to refine these listening skills.
Since 2003, the StoryCorps project of National Public Radio (NPR) has
collected more than 500,000 stories about people’s lives. By
visiting [Link], you can access thousands of stories that represent
the widest array of human emotions, including those experienced during the
COVID-19 pandemic. In his book Listening Is an Act of Love, Dave Isay, a
founder of StoryCorps, commented, “If we take time to listen, we’ll find
wisdom, wonder, and poetry in the lives and stories of the people all around
us.”1 As you listen to stories on the website, take note of how you recognize
the emotions behind the story. What did the speakers say or do to help you
better understand their explicit and implicit meanings? If you were in a room
with the narrators as they told their stories, how would you react? By
continuing to practice listening to stories, you not only will find personal
fulfillment but also will continue to develop and refine your listening skills.
The Importance of
Listening in Our Lives
Listening is one of our most common communication activities.
The International Listening Association examined how much time
individuals spend reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Those
studies found that people spend the greatest amount of their time
listening (an average of 44%), followed by speaking (25%), reading
(13%), and writing (11%).2 Even when you consider online
communication, we still spend a great deal of time listening. Figure
5.1 shows the results of a recent study of the communication
activities in which college students engage: 63% of their time was
spent listening to various types of information, with the largest
amount of time devoted to listening to others in face-to-face
situations. The rest of their time spent in communication activities
was dedicated to speaking, reading, and writing. Continued use of
digital and social media will likely expand the proportion of our
time listening. According to the Pew Research Center, more than
95% of people ages 13 to 17 access YouTube multiple times each
day, which is time spent listening to and watching others.3 Given
how important listening is to our work as communicators, learning
to listen well is critical.

FIGURE 5.1 Proportions of time spent by college students in

communication activities.
Source: Janusik, L., Fullenkamp, L., & Partese, L. (2015). Listening facts. International
Listening Association.

(photo): Mike Kemp/Rubberball/Getty Images

Access the text alternative for Figure 5.1.

As you can imagine from the amount of time we spend listening to

others, listening helps us accomplish important things. Listening
helps us build and maintain relationships and can even help us
determine whether the person we are talking to is being deceitful.
How do we learn to be better listeners in our interpersonal
relationships? A study reported by Andrew Ledbetter and Paul
Schrodt found that listening skills and behaviors are influenced by
family communication patterns we experience early in life. As they
noted, “When families create an environment where family
members are encouraged to openly discuss a variety of topics,
children may be more likely to learn how to process complex and
ambiguous information without anxiety.”4
Page 100
Listening is also recognized as an essential skill for business
success.5 When reflecting on their business successes, executives
such as Bill Marriott note that their most important lesson was to
create cultures in which managers listen to employees for ideas on
how to do things more effectively and efficiently. As a result, better
decisions are made.6 Organizational cultures that emphasize
listening can create positive communication between members of
the organization and increase employee engagement.7 In addition
to promoting internal cultures of listening, the rapid growth of
social media has forced organizations of all types to place a greater
emphasis on social media listening, which occurs when an
organization actively monitors and responds to messages on any
type of social media platform.8 By actively listening to social media
messages, organizations are able to track what consumers are
saying about their products or services and then use that
information to make improvements. Many organizations
use sophisticated social media listening/command centers through
which they can actively engage and respond to customers on social
media to build brand awareness, respond quickly to problems, and
generate brand excitement. Both internally and externally,
listening is one of the key elements of effective business strategy.

As you will learn, listening is one of the most frequent communication

behaviors you will practice. In this chapter you will learn ways to identify
your strengths and areas for improvement as a listener in all types of
contexts.
A young man wearing headphones and holding a
smartphone smiles while lying on a couch at
home. large image navigator opens in a modal

G-Stock Studio/Shutterstock

Defining Listening
John Dewey, a twentieth-century educational and social
philosopher, observed in his book The Public and Its Problems that
true democracy happens when we take time to listen to the people
around us—our friends and family, our neighbors, and the people
in our community.9 Dewey’s observation seems intuitive, though
how often have you “faked” listening? Your friend may tell you
about something that happened at work, but you only “half
listened”; or you listened to neighbors talk about a community
event but quickly forgot what they said. In fact, good listening is
hard and takes sustained effort. Learning to be an effective listener
starts with understanding what the listening process involves and
then progresses to trying to improve how you enact that process.
Page 101
The first step in learning about listening is to understand the
distinction between hearing and listening. Hearing is simply the
act of receiving sound. Although much of this chapter is devoted to
listening rather than hearing, there are important things to learn
about the physical act of hearing. First, your listening behaviors
now will influence your hearing later in life.10 In fact, many
audiologists warn that young adults and even children should be
careful when listening to music using headphones or earbuds.
When using lower-quality earbuds that do not block external noise,
people have a tendency to increase the volume to levels that can
cause long-term damage to their hearing. Even without hearing
loss stemming from loud noise, some people have other physical
problems with their hearing. Tinnitus is a condition that results in
a constant “ringing” in the ears. The American Tinnitus Association
estimates that over 50 million Americans experience tinnitus to
some degree—the condition can be caused by many factors,
including allergies and certain types of benign tumors.11 Thus, we
should not assume that everyone can hear equally well, even those
in your group of friends.
Hearing is not the same as listening. Listening, as defined by the
International Listening Association, is “the active process of
receiving, constructing meaning from, and responding to spoken
and/or nonverbal messages. It involves the ability to retain
information, as well as to react empathically and/or appreciatively
to spoken and/or nonverbal messages.”12 Active listening is
“involved listening with a purpose.”13 Active listening includes
1. listening carefully by using all available senses
2. paraphrasing what we hear both mentally and verbally
3. checking our understanding to ensure accuracy
4. providing feedback.
Feedback consists of verbal and nonverbal responses to the speaker
and the speaker’s message. Those who communicate through sign
language can listen according to the definition just provided,
though many of them may not be able to hear.
Active listening can occur in different forms, including empathic
listening and critical listening:
• Empathic listening is attempting to understand the
perspective of another person. You engage in empathic
listening by maintaining awareness, being mindful in the
moment, reducing distractions, and responding with
empathy to the person with whom you are talking.14
• In critical listening you challenge the speaker’s message by
evaluating its accuracy, meaningfulness, and utility. Critical
listening and critical thinking go hand in hand: you cannot
listen critically if you do not think critically. Skills in critical
listening are especially important because we are constantly
bombarded with commercials, telemarketing calls, and
other persuasive messages.
Not all listening is active listening. Listening for enjoyment occurs
in situations that are relaxing, fun, or emotionally stimulating.
Whether listening to a favorite band or just playing YouTube
 videos, we often use sound to create an escape from other activities
or even to provide simple background noise while we perform other
tasks. Besides aiding relaxation, listening to enjoyable music has
even been found to reduce pain in hospital patients.15
A man wearing headphones around his neck is
holding an iPod and smiling while looking down.
He has his right hand’s index finger on his ear.
large image navigator opens in a modal

• Listening for enjoyment is an easy way to relax.

Ken Wramton/Taxi/Getty Images

communicating creatively
Podcasts and Critical Thinking
As presented here, you may assume that listening for
enjoyment and critical listening are two separate
behaviors. While this is true in some situations, you can
practice critical listening skills even while listening for
enjoyment. More than 41% of U.S. citizens over the age of
12 report listening to podcasts in the past month. While
podcasts are a substantial source of enjoyment for many,
the long-form audio narratives found in many podcasts
also provide meaningful opportunities for critical thinking.
For example, the S-Town podcasts from the producers of
Serial and This American Life documents a story of murder
and mystery in a small town in Alabama. By listening to
that long-form audio narrative, listeners engage in critical
thinking as they follow plots, characters, and events, all
while enjoying a compelling story.
Source: Richter, F. (2021, June 17). The steady rise of podcasts. Statista.
[Link]/chart/10713/podcast-listeners-in-the-united-states/

The Process of Listening

The process of listening is summarized in Figure 5.2. As the
illustration shows, we receive stimuli (such as music, Qur'an,
words, or sounds) in the ear, where the smallest bones in the body
translate the vibrations into sensations registered by the brain. For
those who are deaf or hard of hearing, the stimuli received might be
the visible behaviors of another person. In both instances, the brain
focuses attention on the stimuli and gives them meaning using
working memory, which is a part of your short-term memory. Your
brain might, for example, recognize the first few bars of a favorite
song, the voice of a favorite artist, or the sound of a police siren. On
hearing these sounds, you immediately know what they mean. Your
interpreted message is then stored in schema that reside in your
long-term memory for immediate use or future recall.16
A young woman rests her hands on a car’s open
door and smiles while looking out. A large thought
bubble near her shows a flow-chart of memory.
large image navigator opens in a modal

FIGURE 5.2 The listening process.

(photo): Cavan Images/Alamy Stock Photo

Access the text alternative for Figure 5.2.

As we discuss later in this chapter, people create many barriers, or

obstacles, to effective listening. Not all barriers, however, are the
fault of lazy, ineffective, or unethical listeners. Because listening is
human behavior, natural barriers present themselves at various
stages. In the following sections, these natural barriers are
explained for each major step in the listening process: attention,
working memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory. In
fact, if you recall from Chapter 2, you already learned about some
of these barriers related to attention and assigning meaning to
stimuli. In this chapter we will be discussing similar concepts,
perhaps with more specificity.

ATTENTION
Anyone who has been a student has heard the command “Pay
attention!” What exactly are teachers expecting when they say this?
Paying attention means controlling your selective and automatic
attention.17 Selective attention is the sustained focus we give to
things that are important. Your favorite music, a conversation with
your friend, statements made by your date over dinner, and your
professor at the front of the class are things that draw your selective
attention. Selective attention is a form of selective perception
(see Chapter 2). In contrast, automatic attention is the instinctive
focus we give to important things we experience in our surroundings.
A siren, a loud noise, your name shouted from across the room, or a
new person walking into the room can capture your automatic
attention. In any listening situation, we must manage our selective
attention to keep it from being overwhelmed by our automatic
attention. In essence, by saying “Pay attention,” your teacher is asking
you to ignore your automatic attention and focus your selective
attention. However, you should not assume that selective attention
means paying attention to only one thing. In fact, we learn to quickly
scan our surroundings and assess the importance of several items of
interest as they relate to one another.18 Think about what happens
when you drive. As you scan the road in front of you, you must also
take care to use your peripheral vision to see activity on the side of
the road, such as children playing. You must also listen for important
sounds such as horns or emergency sirens. Driving is a complex
activity that requires scanning and analyzing hundreds of potential
cues; having a conversation is just as complex because the cues are
more subtle.
Page 103
Our ability to quickly scan social media is a valuable and transferable
skill. Being able to scan, read, and react to situations, both virtual and
face-to-face, is useful in a variety of personal and professional
situations. Be warned, however, that excessive reliance on this use of
selective attention can cause problems. A recent study found that
when students text or use social media during class, their
performance on quizzes and tests can drop by as much as one-and-a-
half letter grades.19 Allowing your selective attention to scan too
much of your environment can overwhelm your ability to make
meaning of specific, and perhaps important, stimuli.

WORKING MEMORY
Once we have paid selective attention to relevant sounds and stimuli,
our brain must initially process and make sense of those
stimuli. Working memory is the part of our short-term memory that
interprets and assigns meaning to things we hear. Our working
memory looks for shortcuts when processing information. When you
hear people speak, your working memory quickly recognizes patterns
of sounds that represent words, phrases, and ideas. Using your prior
knowledge, which is stored in long-term memory, your working
memory assigns meaning to what you are hearing and allows you to
respond. Thus, when you hear a family member say, “A storm is
coming,” your working memory allows you to assign meaning to that
sentence and plan your travel or other actions in anticipation of what
that sentence means. The patterns we recognize and respond to with
working memory resources are critical for effective and efficient
communication with others.
Working memory uses patterns of words or other symbols stored in
long-term memory to apply these shortcuts for assigning meaning.
Not surprisingly, research has found that when children have
difficulty with language development, they have less efficient working
memory.20 That is, when children do not learn language skills and
develop strong vocabularies, their working memory must work
harder to decipher new information. Of course, the opposite is also
true. Helping children develop strong language skills early in life will
likely help them become better listeners later.

SHORT-TERM MEMORY
Once interpreted in working memory, information is sent to the
short-term or long-term memory. Short-term memory is a
temporary storage place for information. We all use short-term
memory to retain thoughts needed for immediate use. You might
think of short-term memory as being similar to a Post-it note. You
will use the information on the note for a quick reference but will
soon discard it or decide to write it down in a more secure location.
Page 104
We constantly use short-term memory, but it is the least efficient of
our memory resources. Classic studies in the field of psychology have
documented that short-term memory is limited in both the quantity
of information stored and the length of time information is
retained.21 In terms of quantity, short-term memory is limited to five
to nine “bits” of information. A bit of information is any organized
unit of information, including sounds, letters, words, sentences, or
something less concrete, such as ideas, depending on the ability of
working memory to recognize patterns. For instance, experts in a
particular area can recognize patterns easily and therefore can
organize large amounts of information into a single bit. Nonexperts
have more difficulty in recognizing patterns and must therefore use
more bits to organize the same amount of information. You
experienced this as you learned language. When you began reading,
you processed each letter individually, so each letter was a bit of
information. As you became better at reading, you naturally started to
process words, then phrases, and then entire paragraphs or even
pages of text as a bit of information within your short-term memory.
If your short-term memory becomes overloaded (for average people,
more than nine bits of information), you begin to forget. Short-term
memory is also limited to about 20 seconds in duration unless some
strategy, such as rehearsal, is used. If you quickly scan and rehearse a
definition from your textbook in preparation for a quiz, you will likely
remember it. However, if something breaks your concentration and
you stop rehearsing the definition, the words will likely be lost.
Unfortunately, many listeners rely too much on short-term memory
during the listening process. Researchers in the field of
communication have found that individuals recall only 50% of a
message immediately after listening to it and only 25% after a short
delay.22 Relying on our short-term memory is not a substitute for
trying to encode information into long-term memory.
A woman with her eyes wide open and her hands
on her lips. large image navigator opens in a
modal

• Being startled can break your concentration and cause you to forget
what is in short-term memory.
PhotoTalk/Getty Images

LONG-TERM MEMORY
Information processed in working memory can also be stored in long-
term memory for later recall. Similarly, information temporarily
stored in short-term memory can be deemed important and
subsequently stored in long-term memory. If short-term memory is
the Post-it note in the listening process, long-term memory is the
supercomputer. Long-term memory is our permanent storage place
for information, including past experiences; language; values;
knowledge; images of people; memories of sights, sounds, and smells;
and even fantasies. Unlike short-term memory, long-term memory
has no known limitations in the quantity or duration of stored
information.
Explanations of how long-term memory works are only speculative;
however, researchers hypothesize that our thoughts are organized
according to schemas, which are organizational “filing systems” for
thoughts held in long-term memory. We might think of schemas as an
interconnected web of information. Our ability to remember
information in long-term memory is dependent on finding
connections to the correct schema containing the particular memory,
thought, idea, or image we are trying to recall.
In theory, people with normally functioning brains never lose
information stored in long-term memory. How is it, then, that we
often forget things we listened to? When we try to access information
in long-term memory, we access schemas holding needed information
through the use of stimulus cues, which can be words, images, or even
smells and tastes. If the cue we receive does not give us enough
information to access the corresponding schema, we may be unable
to recall the information. Consider, for example, a situation in which
you see a person who looks familiar. In this case you recognize the
person (a visual cue); however, that stimulus does not provide you
with enough information to recall who the person is. If you hear the
person’s voice or are reminded of a previous encounter with the
person, you may then have enough information to activate the correct
schema and recall specific details about that person.
Page 105

Long-term memory plays a key role in the listening process. As we

receive sounds, our working memory looks for patterns based on
schemas contained in our long-term memory. Thus, our ability to use
language, to recognize concepts, and to interpret meaning is based on
the schemas we accumulate over a lifetime. If we encounter new
information that does not relate to a preexisting schema, our working
memory instructs our long-term memory to create a new schema to
hold the information.

The Process of Listening

The process of listening is summarized in Figure 5.2. As the
illustration shows, we receive stimuli (such as music, Qur'an,
words, or sounds) in the ear, where the smallest bones in the body
translate the vibrations into sensations registered by the brain. For
those who are deaf or hard of hearing, the stimuli received might be
the visible behaviors of another person. In both instances, the brain
focuses attention on the stimuli and gives them meaning using
working memory, which is a part of your short-term memory. Your
brain might, for example, recognize the first few bars of a favorite
song, the voice of a favorite artist, or the sound of a police siren. On
hearing these sounds, you immediately know what they mean. Your
interpreted message is then stored in schema that reside in your
long-term memory for immediate use or future recall.16
A young woman rests her hands on a car’s open
door and smiles while looking out. A large thought
bubble near her shows a flow-chart of memory.
large image navigator opens in a modal

FIGURE 5.2 The listening process.

(photo): Cavan Images/Alamy Stock Photo

Access the text alternative for Figure 5.2.

As we discuss later in this chapter, people create many barriers, or

obstacles, to effective listening. Not all barriers, however, are the
fault of lazy, ineffective, or unethical listeners. Because listening is
human behavior, natural barriers present themselves at various
stages. In the following sections, these natural barriers are
explained for each major step in the listening process: attention,
working memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory. In
fact, if you recall from Chapter 2, you already learned about some
of these barriers related to attention and assigning meaning to
stimuli. In this chapter we will be discussing similar concepts,
perhaps with more specificity.

ATTENTION
Anyone who has been a student has heard the command “Pay
attention!” What exactly are teachers expecting when they say this?
Paying attention means controlling your selective and automatic
attention.17 Selective attention is the sustained focus we give to
things that are important. Your favorite music, a conversation with
your friend, statements made by your date over dinner, and your
professor at the front of the class are things that draw your selective
attention. Selective attention is a form of selective perception
(see Chapter 2). In contrast, automatic attention is the instinctive
focus we give to important things we experience in our surroundings.
A siren, a loud noise, your name shouted from across the room, or a
new person walking into the room can capture your automatic
attention. In any listening situation, we must manage our selective
attention to keep it from being overwhelmed by our automatic
attention. In essence, by saying “Pay attention,” your teacher is asking
you to ignore your automatic attention and focus your selective
attention. However, you should not assume that selective attention
means paying attention to only one thing. In fact, we learn to quickly
scan our surroundings and assess the importance of several items of
interest as they relate to one another.18 Think about what happens
when you drive. As you scan the road in front of you, you must also
take care to use your peripheral vision to see activity on the side of
the road, such as children playing. You must also listen for important
sounds such as horns or emergency sirens. Driving is a complex
activity that requires scanning and analyzing hundreds of potential
cues; having a conversation is just as complex because the cues are
more subtle.
Page 103
Our ability to quickly scan social media is a valuable and transferable
skill. Being able to scan, read, and react to situations, both virtual and
face-to-face, is useful in a variety of personal and professional
situations. Be warned, however, that excessive reliance on this use of
selective attention can cause problems. A recent study found that
when students text or use social media during class, their
performance on quizzes and tests can drop by as much as one-and-a-
half letter grades.19 Allowing your selective attention to scan too
much of your environment can overwhelm your ability to make
meaning of specific, and perhaps important, stimuli.

WORKING MEMORY
Once we have paid selective attention to relevant sounds and stimuli,
our brain must initially process and make sense of those
stimuli. Working memory is the part of our short-term memory that
interprets and assigns meaning to things we hear. Our working
memory looks for shortcuts when processing information. When you
hear people speak, your working memory quickly recognizes patterns
of sounds that represent words, phrases, and ideas. Using your prior
knowledge, which is stored in long-term memory, your working
memory assigns meaning to what you are hearing and allows you to
respond. Thus, when you hear a family member say, “A storm is
coming,” your working memory allows you to assign meaning to that
sentence and plan your travel or other actions in anticipation of what
that sentence means. The patterns we recognize and respond to with
working memory resources are critical for effective and efficient
communication with others.
Working memory uses patterns of words or other symbols stored in
long-term memory to apply these shortcuts for assigning meaning.
Not surprisingly, research has found that when children have
difficulty with language development, they have less efficient working
memory.20 That is, when children do not learn language skills and
develop strong vocabularies, their working memory must work
harder to decipher new information. Of course, the opposite is also
true. Helping children develop strong language skills early in life will
likely help them become better listeners later.

SHORT-TERM MEMORY
Once interpreted in working memory, information is sent to the
short-term or long-term memory. Short-term memory is a
temporary storage place for information. We all use short-term
memory to retain thoughts needed for immediate use. You might
think of short-term memory as being similar to a Post-it note. You
will use the information on the note for a quick reference but will
soon discard it or decide to write it down in a more secure location.
Page 104
We constantly use short-term memory, but it is the least efficient of
our memory resources. Classic studies in the field of psychology have
documented that short-term memory is limited in both the quantity
of information stored and the length of time information is
retained.21 In terms of quantity, short-term memory is limited to five
to nine “bits” of information. A bit of information is any organized
unit of information, including sounds, letters, words, sentences, or
something less concrete, such as ideas, depending on the ability of
working memory to recognize patterns. For instance, experts in a
particular area can recognize patterns easily and therefore can
organize large amounts of information into a single bit. Nonexperts
have more difficulty in recognizing patterns and must therefore use
more bits to organize the same amount of information. You
experienced this as you learned language. When you began reading,
you processed each letter individually, so each letter was a bit of
information. As you became better at reading, you naturally started to
process words, then phrases, and then entire paragraphs or even
pages of text as a bit of information within your short-term memory.
If your short-term memory becomes overloaded (for average people,
more than nine bits of information), you begin to forget. Short-term
memory is also limited to about 20 seconds in duration unless some
strategy, such as rehearsal, is used. If you quickly scan and rehearse a
definition from your textbook in preparation for a quiz, you will likely
remember it. However, if something breaks your concentration and
you stop rehearsing the definition, the words will likely be lost.
Unfortunately, many listeners rely too much on short-term memory
during the listening process. Researchers in the field of
communication have found that individuals recall only 50% of a
message immediately after listening to it and only 25% after a short
delay.22 Relying on our short-term memory is not a substitute for
trying to encode information into long-term memory.
A woman with her eyes wide open and her hands
on her lips. large image navigator opens in a
modal

• Being startled can break your concentration and cause you to forget
what is in short-term memory.
PhotoTalk/Getty Images

LONG-TERM MEMORY
Information processed in working memory can also be stored in long-
term memory for later recall. Similarly, information temporarily
stored in short-term memory can be deemed important and
subsequently stored in long-term memory. If short-term memory is
the Post-it note in the listening process, long-term memory is the
supercomputer. Long-term memory is our permanent storage place
for information, including past experiences; language; values;
knowledge; images of people; memories of sights, sounds, and smells;
and even fantasies. Unlike short-term memory, long-term memory
has no known limitations in the quantity or duration of stored
information.
Explanations of how long-term memory works are only speculative;
however, researchers hypothesize that our thoughts are organized
according to schemas, which are organizational “filing systems” for
thoughts held in long-term memory. We might think of schemas as an
interconnected web of information. Our ability to remember
information in long-term memory is dependent on finding
connections to the correct schema containing the particular memory,
thought, idea, or image we are trying to recall.
In theory, people with normally functioning brains never lose
information stored in long-term memory. How is it, then, that we
often forget things we listened to? When we try to access information
in long-term memory, we access schemas holding needed information
through the use of stimulus cues, which can be words, images, or even
smells and tastes. If the cue we receive does not give us enough
information to access the corresponding schema, we may be unable
to recall the information. Consider, for example, a situation in which
you see a person who looks familiar. In this case you recognize the
person (a visual cue); however, that stimulus does not provide you
with enough information to recall who the person is. If you hear the
person’s voice or are reminded of a previous encounter with the
person, you may then have enough information to activate the correct
schema and recall specific details about that person.
Page 105

Long-term memory plays a key role in the listening process. As we

receive sounds, our working memory looks for patterns based on
schemas contained in our long-term memory. Thus, our ability to use
language, to recognize concepts, and to interpret meaning is based on
the schemas we accumulate over a lifetime. If we encounter new
information that does not relate to a preexisting schema, our working
memory instructs our long-term memory to create a new schema to
hold the information.

Barriers to Listening
Although you might agree that listening is important, you may not
be properly prepared for effective listening. A 2013 study by a
doctoral student at the University of Phoenix found a very strong
correlation between listening skills and workplace
productivity.23 Thus, it is not surprising that research conducted
during the COVID-19 pandemic found that effective and
empathetic listening is one of the most important factors in
promoting workplace productivity.24 Unfortunately, other
research has shown that 88% of the employers surveyed indicated
that finding individuals with good listening skills is difficult or at
least somewhat challenging.25 In this section we explain several
barriers that can challenge our listening effectiveness, including
noise, perceptions of others, and yourself. For explanations and
examples of these types of barriers, see Table 5.1.
Type of Barrier Explanation and Example
NOISE
Physical All the stimuli in the environment that keep you from fo
distractions loud music playing at a party
The wandering of the mind when it is supposed to be fo
Mental distractions thinking about a lunch date while listening to a teacher
Trying to do two or more tasks simultaneously. Example
Multitasking on a conversation with family
Focusing so intently on details that you miss the main p
Factual distractions details of a conversation but forgetting the main idea
Semantic Overresponding to an emotion-laden word or concept. E
distractions someone claims to be “conservative” or “progressive”
PERCEPTION OF OTHERS
Devoting attention based on the social standing, rank, o
Status Example: not listening to a freshman in a group activity
Treating individuals as if they were the same as others i
making assumptions about how to interpret the words o
Stereotypes ethnicity
Letting appearances or voice qualities affect your listeni
Sights and sounds person with long hair and tattoos will make poor argume
YOURSELF
Type of Barrier Explanation and Example
NOISE
Excessive self-focus, or seeing yourself as the central co
Egocentrism Example: redirecting group conversations to your own in
Acting threatened and feeling as though you must defen
Defensiveness Example: assuming others’ comments are veiled criticis
Experiential Looking down on others as if their life experiences were
superiority not listening to a coworker who is new
Letting your own predispositions, or strongly held belief
interpret information correctly. Example: assuming that
Personal bias deceitful)
Pretending to listen but letting your mind or attention w
Pseudolistening texting while your professor is lecturing

Table Summary: Table divided three different sections of two columns each
listening with the explanation and examples. The sections from the top are l
and yourself, listing five, three, and five types of barriers, respectively.
Table 5.1 Barriers to Listening
The barriers listed in Table 5.1 are common, but as our cultural
listening habits change, these barriers evolve and new ones are
added. A conference sponsored by the International Commission
on Biological Effects of Noise noted that the proliferation of noise
created by humans—everything from cars and airplanes to
smartphones and video games—is starting to cause fatal accidents
for adults and poorer achievement in children because of the sheer
number of audible distractions.26 Likewise, Lenore Skenazy,
writing in Advertising Age, complained that smartphones and other
personal communication devices might be diminishing ongoing
practice with face-to-face communication skills, such as
listening.27 Other studies show that listening to loud, fast music
significantly diminishes our ability to comprehend things we read
or hear.28 In sum, these barriers point to one conclusion: our
listening practices are more complicated because more and more
things draw our attention.
Modern technology, including smartphones, laptops,
smartwatches, and tablets, can pose challenges for good listening.
If you are in a large class, you have probably even seen people carry
on telephone conversations using earbuds to try to conceal their
behaviors. When we multitask by trying to listen to someone while
texting, posting a picture, or just browsing on the internet, we are
likely diminishing our ability to function well as a listener. Recall
that short-term memory is limited. When we multitask, we place
greater strain on our working memory and short-term memory,
which can impede all other aspects of our ability to process
information. For instance, assume you are listening to a training
podcast for your job and you decide to answer a text from your
partner. Each time you stop listening to the podcast to read or
answer a text, you lose mental momentum on your listening and
have to restart. In fact, our own research on this topic shows that in
classroom situations, students record 62% less information in their
notes when they multitask by texting or posting on social media
during the lesson.29
The current polarized social and political climate observed across
the globe has started to create poor listening habits. Writing for the
Huffington Post, psychologist Chloe Carmichael noted that
sociopolitical discord has created “group polarization . . .
[where] people who have different views become reactionary and
disagree with one another in a knee jerk response.”30 As she
explains, one way to counteract such polarization is to practice
good listening.
Page 106

Individuals can have authentic disagreement on particular issues.

However, for any two (or more) people, there are also many points
of agreement. Your friend may disagree with you on your views
about immigration but agree that the immigration system needs
revision. You may lean blue while your parents lean red, but you
may agree that all politicians should be held to higher standards of
ethical and moral responsibility. As you discuss points of authentic
disagreement, rather than saying that you will simply agree to
disagree, you should listen carefully for points of common ground.
In the end, finding common ground provides pathways for moving
forward, whether it be in a relationship or political debate.
Common ground may not eliminate disagreement on some issues,
but it is far less polarizing and represents careful and skillful
listening behaviors.
Page 107
 Beyond the negative effects of technology and polarization on
listening habits, recent research by communication scholar
Elizabeth Parks suggests that there are generational differences in
listening.31 Her study found that individuals born after 1997,
commonly referred to as Generation Z, are significantly more likely
than previous generations to engage in evaluative listening, which
is associated with being critical and argumentative with another.
Parks notes that such listening habits may be common among Gen-
Z individuals, but it may run contrary to norms of other
generations. This research illustrates how personal biases could
diminish the effectiveness of listening among people from different
generations.
sizing things up
Barriers to Listening
The following statements describe how you might react to
several specific listening situations. Read each statement
carefully and indicate how strongly you agree or disagree
by using the following scale:
• 1 = Strongly disagree
• 2 = Disagree
• 3 = Neither agree nor disagree
• 4 = Agree
• 5 = Strongly agree

When listening to others I often . . .

1. assume that their viewpoint will be similar to
those of other people like them.
2. respect others’ opinions, even when they have
less experience than I have.
3. think about other things while the person is
talking.
4. get distracted by their physical appearance.
5. pay close attention but have trouble
remembering their main ideas.
6. feel threatened or that the person is attacking
me or my beliefs.
 7. get put off by terms or phrases used by others.
8. pay less attention to people who are not
important.
9. pay less attention if what they are saying does
not pertain to me.
There are no right or wrong answers to these statements.
A guide for scoring your responses appears at the end of
the chapter.

Ways to Become a Better

Listener
So far in this chapter we have emphasized the importance of
listening while also pointing out barriers to effective listening.
Faced with this knowledge, you might wonder how any of us can
hope to become effective listeners. After all, the potential barriers
are many. Fortunately, each of us can take several steps to
overcome these barriers to good listening. In this section we
explain how you can become a better listener by recognizing
differences, listening and thinking critically, using verbal and
nonverbal communication effectively, checking your
understanding, and taking good notes.
Page 108

RECOGNIZE DIFFERENCES IN
LISTENING
The first step in becoming a better listener is to recognize that we all
have different tendencies that can influence how we listen to others.
Although these tendencies can be influenced by many different
factors, such as our family life and our early language development,
even our gender can influence our listening habits. Have you ever had
a conversation with people of the opposite gender and thought
afterward that they did not listen well? If so, you are not alone. Debra
Tannen, a linguistics professor and acclaimed author of the book You
Just Don’t Understand: Women and Men in Conversation, suggests that
men and women have very distinct communication styles, which
influence everything from how they use vocal inflections to how they
listen. For example, Tannen suggests that men tend to be more
instrumental or task-oriented when communicating, whereas women
tend to be more relationally oriented.32 Furthermore, a woman
listening to her female friend talk about her relationship problems
will likely keep eye contact with the speaker, listen for emotions to
which she can relate, and nod to confirm she understands what her
friend is saying. In contrast, a man listening to his male friend talk
about his relationship problems will likely make less eye contact
while listening for key facts to identify a problem he can help solve.
While men and women tend to be comfortable with these
communication styles among their own genders, communication
frustration can sometimes occur when men and women talk to each
other. See Table 5.2 for some of the more commonly observed
differences relevant to listening. Tannen’s explanation of observed
gender differences in listening behaviors should not be applied as a
stereotype. Some men may enact listening behaviors more typical of
women’s listening habits, and vice-versa. Though Tannen’s work is
useful for understanding possible differences in listening behaviors
between people, her conclusions may not apply for many
people. Consider how Tannen’s findings can help you become more
aware of your strengths and weaknesses as a listener.
Characteristics of
Listening Women Men
Purpose for Listen to understand the other person’s Listen in orde
Listening emotions and to find common interests
Listening Like complex information that requires Like short, co
Preferences careful evaluation communicatio
Are highly perceptive to how well the Often fail to r
Listening Awareness other person understands understand
Tend to be attentive and to have Tend to be le
Nonverbal Listening sustained eye contact with the other monitor react
Behaviors person liking
Interrupt less often, with interruptions Interrupt mor
Interruptive usually signaling agreement and used to switc
Behaviors support
 Characteristics of
Listening Women Men

Table 5.2 Listening Differences Between Men and Women

Sources: Tannen, D. (2011). You just don’t understand: Women and men in conversation. Harper-
Collins; Watson, K., Lazarus, C. J., & Todd, T. (1999). First-year medical students’
listener preferences: A longitudinal study. International Journal of Listening, 13: 1–11;
Weisfeld, C. C., & Stack, M. A. (2002). When I look into your eyes. Psychology, Evolution and
Gender, 4: 125–147.
A man resting his arm on a fence near a river and
a woman standing with the support of a bike are
smiling while looking at each other. large image
navigator opens in a modal

• Men and women tend to enact different behaviors when listening.

Westend61/Getty Images

LISTEN AND THINK CRITICALLY

As mentioned earlier in this chapter, critical listening and critical
thinking go hand in hand: you cannot listen critically without also
thinking critically. We have already noted that critical listening is a
form of active listening in which you carefully analyze the accuracy,
meaningfulness, and utility of a speaker’s message. Similarly, critical
thinking involves analyzing the speaker, the situation, and the
speaker’s ideas to make critical judgments about the message being
presented. Although we discuss critical thinking in terms of its
relationship to critical listening, you also use critical thinking when
reading, watching television, or analyzing the ingredients of a tasty
meal.
Page 109
One way to think critically is to analyze the communication situation.
Are there characteristics of the situation that tip you off that the
information will be important? If your supervisor organized a staff
meeting, would you pay more attention if she came in with a somber
look on her face after a long meeting with the department manager?
The communication context will provide cues about the situation and
suggest key things to remain aware of while listening.
A second skill in critical listening is to analyze the credibility of the
speaker. Source credibility is the extent to which you perceive the
speaker as competent and trustworthy. If you wanted to know what
procedures are required to study in Europe for a semester, who
would give you the best information? Would you be more likely to
trust your roommate, who heard about foreign exchange programs
during freshman orientation; your adviser, who had an exchange
student a few years back; or the director of international programs on
your campus? If your car ran poorly, would you trust your neighbor’s
advice or that of an auto mechanic? The choice seems obvious in
these situations. When assessing the credibility of a speaker, you
should determine the credibility of the person in relation to his or her
qualifications, experience, and potential biases or ulterior motives for
taking a certain position.
One way of analyzing the credibility of speakers is to determine
whether they are reporting something they have seen or experienced
personally or something they have heard from someone else. Also
important is whether they are providing factual accounts or opinions.
The following questions can guide your preliminary analysis of
source credibility.
• Is the person presenting observations or
inferences? Observations are descriptions of things that can
be seen, heard, tasted, smelled, or felt. Inferences are
conclusions drawn from observations. You might observe
that a number of people who are homeless live in your
community. Based on that observation, you might infer that
your community does not have enough affordable housing.
• If presenting observations, are they first-person or second-
person? A first-person observation is based on something
that was personally sensed; a second-person
observation is a report of what another person observed.
First-person observations are typically more accurate
because they are direct accounts rather than inferences
drawn from others’ accounts.
Although a careful analysis of these questions will help you develop
initial perceptions about a person’s credibility, your analysis should
not end there. The speaker’s sincerity, trustworthiness, passion, and
use of evidence and reasoning are among many factors that you might
take into account to refine your assessment of the speaker’s
credibility.
 After you have analyzed the situation and formed initial impressions
about the speaker’s credibility, a final step in critical thinking is to
analyze the arguments the speaker is making. One of the simplest
ways of analyzing an argument is to use Stephen Toulmin’s concepts
of data, claim, and warrant.33 As shown in Figure 5.3, Toulmin
provides a way of diagramming how the components of an argument
fit together. A claim is the overall point or conclusion of the argument.
Every argument begins with data, which consist of factual or agreed-
upon evidence. Based on the evidence, a speaker uses a warrant to
develop a logical connection, or bridge, between the agreed-upon
data and the claim. If any of these elements are missing, the argument
has no foundation.
Page 110
A flowchart of data and warrant leading to claim.
large image navigator opens in a modal

FIGURE 5.3 Stephen Toulmin’s concepts of data, claim, and warrant.

Source: Toulmin, S. E. (1958) The uses of argument. Cambridge University Press.
Access the text alternative for Figure 5.3.

We see examples of Toulmin’s argument layout in nearly every

persuasive speech. When Apple executives plan events to introduce
new product models, or in some instances brand new devices, they
typically begin with the data that consumers want technology that is
useful and easy-to-use. Then, Tim Cook or other speakers go on to
explain how new devices or software updates will accomplish that
objective. Through multiple live examples, those presenters develop
strong warrants that connect believable assumptions about what
consumers want with the conclusion that purchasing Apple’s new
products will meet those needs. Think about how this strategy was
used for the iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch with great success. Using
the questions posed in Figure 5.3, you can analyze nearly any
argument to think more critically about what another person is
saying.
building behaviors
Using TED to Practice Critical Thinking
Critical thinking is one of the most important listening
skills you can develop while in college. Being a good
critical listener is vital to all aspects of your adult life. You
can practice suggestions for critical thinking discussed in
this chapter by watching a TED talk on a topic of interest
to you ([Link], or use the free mobile TED app).
While watching the video, analyze the speaker’s credibility
and attempt to dissect the arguments presented by the
speaker using Toulmin’s argument layout.

USE NONVERBAL
COMMUNICATION EFFECTIVELY
Although you demonstrate active listening through verbal skills, the
majority of your active listening ability is shown through nonverbal
communication. The following nonverbal skills are essential to your
ability to demonstrate active listening. As you listen to another
person, have a friend observe you to determine if you are practicing
these skills.
1. Demonstrate bodily responsiveness. Use movement and
gestures to show your awareness of the speaker’s message.
Shaking your head in disbelief, conveying the
measurements of an object by indicating the size with your
hands, and moving toward a person who is quietly
disclosing negative information are appropriate bodily
responses.
2. Lean forward. By leaning toward the speaker, you
demonstrate interest in the speaker. A forward lean also
suggests responsiveness. In addition, leaning places you in
a physical state of readiness to listen to the speaker.
Page 111
3. Use direct body orientation. Do not angle yourself away from
the speaker; instead, sit or stand so that you are directly
facing the speaker. A parallel body position allows the
greatest possibility for observing and listening to the
speaker’s verbal and nonverbal messages. When you stand
or sit at an angle to the speaker, you may be creating the
impression that you are attempting to get away or that you
are moving away from the speaker. An angled position also
 blocks your vision and allows you to be distracted by other
stimuli in the environment.
4. Maintain relaxed but alert posture. Your posture should not
be tense or “proper,” but neither should it be so relaxed that
you appear to be resting. Slouching suggests
unresponsiveness; a tense body position suggests
nervousness or discomfort; and a relaxed position
accompanied by crossed arms and legs, a backward lean in
a chair, and a confident facial expression suggests
arrogance. Your posture should suggest to others that you
are interested and that you are comfortable talking with
them.
5. Establish an open body position. Sit or stand with your body
open to the other person. Crossing your arms or legs may be
more comfortable, but that posture frequently suggests that
you are closed off psychologically as well as physically. To
maximize your nonverbal message to the other person that
you are “open,” you should sit or stand without crossing
your arms or legs.
6. Use positive, responsive facial expressions and head
movement. Your face and head will be the speaker’s primary
focus. The speaker will be observing you, and your facial
expressions and head movement will be the key. You can
demonstrate your interest by nodding your head to show
interest or agreement. You can use positive and responsive
facial expressions, such as smiling and raising your
eyebrows.
7. Establish direct eye contact. The speaker will be watching
your eyes for interest. One of the first signs of a lack of
interest is the tendency to be distracted by other stimuli in
the environment. For example, an instructor who
continually glances out the door of the lecture hall, a
roommate who sneaks peeks at the television while you tell
a story, and a business executive who regularly looks at the
clock during a meeting are all indicating lack of interest. Try
to focus on and direct your gaze at the speaker. When you
begin to look around the room, you may find any number of
other stimuli to distract your attention from the speaker
and the message.
 8. Sit or stand close to the speaker. Establishing close proximity
to the speaker has two benefits. First, you put yourself in a
position that allows you to hear the other person and that
minimizes distracting noises, sights, and other stimuli.
Second, you demonstrate your concern or your positive
feelings for the speaker. You probably do not stand or sit
close to people you do not like or respect or with whom you
do not have common experiences. Close physical proximity
enables active listening.
Page 112
9. Be vocally responsive. Change your pitch, rate, inflection, and
volume as you respond to the speaker. Making appropriate
changes and choices shows that you are actually listening,
in contrast to responding in a standard, patterned manner
that suggests you are only appearing to listen. Responding
to your roommate or partner’s story about an exciting event
at work with a dull, monotone “yeah, that’s great,”
accompanied by frequent glances at your phone, would not
signal active listening.
10. Provide supportive utterances. Sometimes you can
demonstrate more concern through nonverbal sounds, such
as “mmm,” “mmm-hmm,” and “uh-huh” than you can by
stating, “Yes, I understand.” You can easily provide
supportive utterances while others are talking or when they
pause. You are suggesting to them that you are listening but
do not want to interrupt with a verbalization of your own at
this particular time. Such sounds encourage the speaker to
Two women stand close. One of the women faces
down while the other one pats on her shoulder
while looking at her. large image navigator opens
continue without interruption.
in a modal

• Close proximity, and even touching, can show that you are listening
with empathy.
Eric Audras/Onoky/SuperStock

engaging diversity
Using Touch as Feedback
We use a variety of nonverbal behaviors to provide
feedback and demonstrate that we are listening carefully.
Touch is often used to signal that we are listening and to
provide feedback. For example, we may use a hug or a
simple hand on the shoulder to console someone.
Researchers from multiple fields are developing greater
awareness that substantial diversity exists between
individuals on how they both practice and perceive
empathy. Neuroscientists from Germany found that
individuals who are more likely to be empathetic are also
more strongly oriented toward touching behaviors. In
essence, these individuals are more likely to touch another
person when showing empathy and are more likely to
perceive touch from another as signaling empathy.
Conversely, individuals who dislike being touched may be
less likely to engage in empathetic listening behaviors.
This research teaches us that diversity in how we perceive
the world, such as our perceptions of touch, can
substantially impact how we listen to and respond to
others.
Source: Schaefer, M., Joch, M., & Rother, N. (2021, February 9). Feeling touched:
Empathy is associated with performance in a tactile acuity test. Frontiers in Human
Neuroscience, doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2021.593425

USE VERBAL COMMUNICATION

EFFECTIVELY
The notion of the verbal components of listening may seem strange to
you. You may reason that, if you are engaged in listening, you cannot
also be speaking. Recall though that communication is a process that
includes feedback. While listening, you must use both verbal and
nonverbal feedback to negotiate meaning with another person. To
measure your current competence in this area, consider the skills you
regularly practice:
1. Invite additional comments. Suggest that the speaker add
more details or give additional information. Phrases such as
“Go on,” “What else?” “How did you feel about that?” and
“Did anything else happen?” encourage the speaker to
continue to share ideas and information.
2. Ask questions. One method of inviting the speaker to
continue is to ask direct questions, requesting more in-
depth details, definitions, or clarification.
3. Identify areas of agreement or common experience. Briefly
relate similar past experiences, or briefly explain a similar
point of view that you hold. Sharing ideas, attitudes, values,
and beliefs is the basis of communication. In addition, such
comments demonstrate your understanding.
4. Vary verbal responses. Use a variety of responses, such as
“Yes,” “I see,” “Go on,” and “Right,” instead of relying on
one standard, unaltered response, such as “Yes,” “Yes,”
“Yes.”
5. Provide clear verbal responses. Use specific and concrete
words and phrases in your feedback to the speaker.
Misunderstandings can occur if you do not provide easily
understood responses.
6. Use descriptive, nonevaluative responses. It is better to say,
“Your statistics are from an organization that is biased
against gun control,” which is descriptive, than to say,
“Your speech was a bunch of lies,” which is evaluative.
Trivializing or joking about serious disclosures suggests a
negative evaluation of the speaker. Similarly, derogatory
remarks are seen as offensive. Acting superior to the
speaker by stating that you believe you have a more
advanced understanding suggests an evaluative tone.
7. Provide affirmative and affirming statements. Comments such
as “Yes,” “I see,” “I understand,” and “I know” provide
affirmation. Offering praise and specific positive statements
demonstrates concern.
8. Avoid complete silence. The lack of any response suggests
that you are not listening to the speaker. The “silent
treatment” induced by sleepiness or lack of interest may
result in defensiveness or anger on the part of the speaker.
Appropriate verbal feedback demonstrates your active
listening.
Page 113
9. Allow other people the opportunity of a complete
hearing. When you discuss common feelings or experiences,
 avoid dominating the conversation. Allow others to go into
depth and detail, give them the option of changing the topic
under discussion, and let them talk without being
interrupted.

CHECK YOUR UNDERSTANDING

When we listen to others, we are actually engaging in a specialized
form of the perception process (see Chapter 2). Because listening is a
specialized form of perceiving, you should engage in perception
checking to ensure that your perceptions match what the speaker
intends. In the context of listening, rather than calling this perception
checking, we might refer to it as checking your understanding. You
can check your understanding by practicing these skills:
1. Ask questions for clarification. Before testing your
understanding of the speaker’s message, make sure you
have a clear idea of what is being said. Begin by asking
questions to gain more information. For specific factual
information, you may use closed questions (such as yes or
no questions), and for more general information you may
ask open-ended questions (questions pertaining to what,
when, where, how, and why). Once you have gained
sufficient information, you can ask the speaker to check
your understanding against what was intended.
2. Paraphrase the speaker’s message. Using “I statements,”
attempt to paraphrase what you think the speaker was
saying so that the speaker can determine whether your
understanding matches what was intended.
3. Paraphrase the speaker’s intent. Using “I statements,”
attempt to paraphrase what you interpret as the intent or
motivation of the speaker. After hearing your assumptions
about the intent, the speaker may talk with you more to
refine your understanding.
4. Identify areas of confusion. If there are specific aspects of the
message that you are still confused about, mention those to
the speaker while you are expressing your initial
understanding of the message.
5. Invite clarification and correction. Asking the speaker to
correct your interpretation of the message will invite
 additional explanation. The ensuing dialogue will help you
and the speaker share meaning more effectively.
6. Go back to the beginning. As necessary, return to the first
step in this process to check your new understanding of the
speaker’s message and intent. Good listening is a process
without clear beginning and ending points, so you should
Men and women in business clothing are sitting
around. One of the men talks with open palms
while others holding diaries and pens look at him.
check your understanding at each stage in the process.
large image navigator opens in a modal

• Taking notes is an effective strategy to maintain attention and easily

remember information.
fizkes/Shutterstock

TAKE GOOD NOTES

Note-taking is one of the most effective skills you can develop as a
listener, particularly as a college student. Several options, or formats,
are available to you as a note-taker, including the narrative method,
the matrix method, the outline method, the mind-map method, and
the Cornell method. You can find additional information about each
method by searching online, or your school may have a learning
resource center that can provide additional assistance.
• The narrative method uses complete sentences and paragraph
structure to try to record ideas as close as possible to word-
for-word. Many people opt for this approach when using a
laptop or tablet. Although this method is useful when exact
wording is critical, it is also the most difficult method
because people tend to speak faster than we can write.
Moreover, these types of notes often lack the organization
necessary for efficient review.
Page 114
• Thematrix method organizes information into rows and
columns, similar to what a spreadsheet looks like. This
format is useful when you need to emphasize details within
the intersections of multiple categories. Therefore, if you
had rows for each of the communication contexts
(interpersonal, small group, public speaking, and so on),
one column for verbal communication, and a second
 column for nonverbal communication, the intersecting cells
in that matrix would allow you to note an example
illustrating nonverbal communication in public speaking,
verbal communication in small groups, and any other
combination of communication types and contexts.
• The outline method uses numbers and letters to indicate main
points and subordinate points, respectively. Each set of
subordinate points is typically indented under more general
or main points. This method requires you to summarize key
concepts and points and supporting details. This format of
note-taking is effective and a good general-purpose
approach. Although more organized than the narrative
method, it potentially conceals the types of
interrelationships made apparent by the matrix method.
• The mind-map method uses a web-like diagram to show how
concepts are connected. This visual approach is particularly
useful for brainstorming ideas and synthesizing
information after a lecture or reading assignment. Using
this method during a lecture may be challenging because it
may not be immediately apparent how information should
visually connect.
• The Cornell method uses columns to organize information. For
this method you will divide your paper into a wide column
on the right and a narrow column on the left. In the wide
column, you should record details using an outline format,
bullet points, sentences, or key terms. In the smaller
column, you should synthesize and identify the main
points, make comments to yourself, and note key details
such as definitions and answers to known test questions.
Like outlining, this is a good general-purpose note-taking
approach.
The most effective note-takers use combinations of each method
depending on the circumstances. Both the outlining and Cornell
methods work well across a variety of situations, though some
content might be particularly favorable for a matrix or mind-map
format. No single method might be best. Your objective as a learner
should be to format notes to fit your study habits and the information
you are trying to learn.
We often assume that note-taking is limited to classrooms. However,
many people carry small composition books to record notes and
reflections from meetings, one-on-one conversations, and other
nonclassroom contexts. Many people also take notes digitally using
an iPad or similar device equipped with a stylus. Regardless of the
technology used, note-taking is a listening skill that is valuable across
situations.

Effective Listening in
Different Situations
Most listening skills will serve you well in every communication
situation. Listening critically, mastering nonverbal cues, and
checking your understanding will always aid your comprehension
of the message. In this section you will learn about listening skills
that are important in some of the most common and important
listening situations that you regularly confront.

LISTENING IN THE WORKPLACE

As our nation has shifted from an industrial-based economy to an
information-based economy, effective listening has become
recognized as an essential skill for workers. Statistics from the U.S.
Bureau of Labor Statistics show that by 2031 just over 80% of the
workforce in the United States will be employed in service-oriented
industries, such as education, healthcare, retail sales, and state and
local government.34 These jobs all have one thing in common—they
require employee–customer interaction in which listening skills
translate into revenue.
Page 115
Organizations are increasingly interested in developing effective
communication skills for both new and experienced managers. In fact,
performance feedback for most managers highlights listening as one
of the most important areas for improvement. Research reported in
the Public Relations Review suggests that such improvement is
necessary.35 Findings of that study show that in many organizations,
managers ineffectively listen to employees’ concerns due to limited
training on listening skills, an over-reliance on surveys to gather
employee feedback, and pseudolistening, one of the barriers
mentioned earlier in the chapter. The authors of the study concluded
that one of the most important areas of improvement for managers is
to engage in ethical listening behaviors that shows concern for others’
feelings. They reason that when managers listen with concern for
others, they are more likely to use ethical and moral reasoning to
make decisions that affect employees.
Even if you are not a manager, being an active listener who seeks to
understand others’ emotions is a highly effective skill in any
organization. The following are some other listening skills that will
benefit you in the workplace:
• Be deliberate in paying attention to others who are speaking.
• Use nonverbal feedback to indicate that you are actively
listening.
• Refrain from interrupting others when they are talking, even
if you are agreeing with them.
• Seek to understand what others are saying before providing a
verbal reaction.
• Verbally summarize what you view as the key takeaways and
action items that were discussed in a meeting.

LISTENING IN THE CLASSROOM

Take a moment to think about how often, as a student, you find
yourself listening to a lecture. If you were to estimate how much of
your time is spent listening to lectures, how much would it be? If you
said “a lot,” you would not be alone. Researchers have estimated that
college students spend at least 10 hours per week attending
lectures.36 If you take a typical 15-credit load in a semester, that 10
hours per week translates into about 80% of your time in class being
spent listening to lectures.37 The prominence of listening in students’
lives led communication scholars Larry Vinson and Craig Johnson to
coin the term lecture listening—the ability to listen to, mentally
process, and recall lecture information.38
What constitutes effective lecture listening? Although a variety of
answers have been offered, educational researcher Michael Gilbert
provides the following general suggestions:
 1. Find areas of interest in what you are listening to. Constantly
look for how you can use the information.
2. Remain open. Avoid the temptation to focus only on the
lecturer’s delivery; withhold evaluative judgments until the
lecturer has finished. Recognize your emotional triggers,
and avoid letting them distract you.
3. Work at listening. Capitalize on your mind’s ability to think
faster than the lecturer can talk. Mentally summarize and
review what has been said, mentally organize information,
and find connections to what you already know or are
currently learning.
Page 116
4. Avoid letting distractions distract. Monitor your attention and
recognize when it is waning. If you are becoming distracted,
refocus your attention on the lecturer. This is a critical point
in today’s digital culture. Recent research noted that
nonacademic internet use by students during class is
common and that such activity is associated with lower
grades.39
5. Listen for and note main ideas. Focus on the central themes of
what is being presented, and make notes about those
themes. Effective notes outlining the main ideas of a lecture
can, in some cases, be more useful than pages of notes
containing unorganized details.40
As noted earlier, note-taking is an essential listening skill, particularly
in the classroom. Research has found that effective note-taking during
lectures can increase scores on exams by more than 20%—a
difference between receiving a C and receiving an A.41 Unfortunately,
students typically do not record enough notes during a lecture.
Research generally shows that less than 40% of the information in a
lecture makes it into students’ notes. In short, most students are
unable to capitalize on the benefits of note-taking simply because
their notes are incomplete.
Now that you understand why note-taking is so important, how can
you become a more effective note-taker? In your notes your goal
should be to record both the outline of the lecture—called
organizational points—and the details supporting those points. The
most effective way to ensure that you record all of these points is to
listen for lecture cues—verbal or nonverbal signals that stress
points or indicate transitions between ideas during a lecture. Table
5.3 summarizes various types of lecture cues commonly used by
teachers. While taking notes, you should listen and watch for these
types of cues.
Type of Cue Example Main Us
Points of lecture on transparency or PowerPoint Indicate
Written outlines slide
Term written on the whiteboard Stress i
Words/phrases definitio
Verbal “Now, and this will be on the exam next week, we will Stress i
importance cues explore . . .” essenti
“Here is an example [definition, explanation, conclusion, Signal c
implication, or illustration] of uncertainty reduction up the
Semantic cues theory in action . . .”
Organizational “The third thing I want to discuss today is . . .” Orally p
cues subordi
Holding up two fingers when saying, “I will Can ser
discuss two concepts today . . .” nonverb
Nonverbal cues 4, on n

Table 5.3 Common Lecture Cues Teachers Use

Page 117
Research has also examined the importance of lecture cues for
students.42 A group of students were taught about organizational
cues and were asked to listen for those cues and take notes during a
videotaped lecture. Students in another group were not informed
about organizational cues but viewed and took notes during the same
lecture. The students who were taught about organizational cues
recorded four times the number of organizational points and twice
the number of details in their notes. These students were able to
capitalize on their note-taking effectiveness; they received the
equivalent of an A on a quiz about the lecture. Their counterparts,
who were unaware of and did not listen for organizational cues,
received the equivalent of a C. This research looked at the effects of
teaching students about organizational cues only. Imagine what could
have happened if these students had been taught about all types of
 lecture cues. Fortunately, you are now equipped with this
information.
communicating with agility
Listening with Curiosity
Great listening skills are the secret ingredient to being an
agile communicator. In classroom situations, in the
workplace, or with your family and friends, be intentional
in how you listen. If you listen with a mindset of curiosity,
you will be far more likely to perceive messages with an
open mind, ask questions, and grow your ability to
carefully interpret messages from others. In so doing, you
will also develop skills in shaping your own messages in
response to others. Brian Branagan, an executive coach in
Silicon Valley, observed that communication agility is
enhanced when we listen for rather than listen to. When we
listen to, we are simply hearing words. However, when we
listen for, we are attempting to understand meaning from
another person through their body language, emotions,
and other messages. Branagan advises that curious
listening, listening for, makes it less likely that you will
react with emotion and more likely that you will establish
clearer understanding with others.
Source: Branagan, B. (2017, October 18). Deep listening: Creating conversational
agility. InfoQ. [Link]/presentations/deep-listening-conversational-agility/

LISTENING TO MEDIA
Think about how much time you spend watching shows and movies;
listening to music; reading magazines, newspapers, or books; sending
a snap; chatting online; or just surfing the web. Many of us might
avoid that thought because it might frighten us. The Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported statistics showing
that, on a typical day, children who are at least two years old spend
over two hours per day watching television.43 If other forms of
media consumption, such as playing video games or using the
internet, were factored into these statistics, the number would be
much higher. These statistics show that our saturation with mediated
messages begins at an early age. Also, the CDC warns that such
ubiquitous use of the media might be linked to important health
issues, such as childhood obesity.
Given the quantity of mediated communication to which we are
exposed each day, we must become critical consumers of such
information. Think how much money you would spend if you “bought
in” to every commercial you saw, or think how much time it would
take for you to read every email you get (including “junk” email).
Simply put, good listening behaviors are essential because mediated
communication is so prevalent.
One way to be an effective listener in a mediated culture is to have
information literacy. Information literacy is defined by the
American Library Association in the following way: “To be
information literate an individual must recognize when information
is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate and use effectively
the information needed.”44 According to this definition, information-
literate individuals are able to think critically, know when and how to
find more information, and know how to evaluate information.
Page 118
Mediated communication is not limited to advertising and television.
In 2022, it was estimated that just over 66% of the world population
uses the internet regularly.45 To put that percentage in perspective,
the corresponding 2011 value was 35%.46 How do people use the
internet? As of 2022, average internet users spend roughly 2.5 hours
per day on social media.47 These findings suggest that much of what
we listen to and consume comes from online sources. In fact, most
college-age students get the majority of their news from online
sources rather than more traditional print, broadcast, and cable
outlets. Moreover, much of our communication with others flows
through digital channels, such as email, text messages, and social
media posts.
Online communication requires different approaches to being an
effective listener and consumer of communication. The principal
problem with online communication—whether you are texting
someone or messaging on social media—is that nonverbal
communication is difficult. Recall that nonverbal communication
provides significant clues about another person’s emotions and
feelings. Without the ability to see and hear the other person, how
can you tell what that person might be thinking? When
communicating using digital tools, you may perceive messages in
ways not intended. For instance, you may interpret a short message
as being angry or abrupt when, in fact, the person was texting while
doing something else. When using other tools, such as Instagram or
Facebook, remember that our comments and posts are often full of
subtexts and hidden meanings. Take care to check your
understanding of messages and intentions when consuming personal
messages from others.
A woman sits on the floor near a couch and looks
at a smartphone with her eyebrows raised and her
hand on her head. large image navigator opens in
a modal

• Online communication can cause emotional reactions to what other say.

When listening on social media or elsewhere online, we benefit by
checking our understanding before reacting.
HBRH/Shutterstock

LISTENING IN A SECOND
LANGUAGE
Many of the suggestions provided in this chapter are for both native
English speakers and English language learners (ELLs). However, if
you are a nonnative speaker, some understanding of how to further
develop your listening skills can speed your progress as an effective
listener. Research suggests that second-language listening
development requires two skills: vocabulary comprehension and
metacognitive awareness.48 Vocabulary comprehension is more than
just memorizing lists of terms. Rather, vocabulary is strengthened by
recognizing the sounds of words and associating those sounds with
their meaning. Being immersed in a new culture will assist you in
developing such connections, particularly if you seek out and engage
in sustained conversations with others. You can also use television
and other media to broaden your listening experiences and assist you
in vocabulary development.
In addition to developing your vocabulary, you should try to develop
your metacognitive skills. Metacognition is your ability to use “mental
strategies” to assist in quickly determining the meaning of words.
Learning to decipher words by drawing inferences on their meaning
from the context and other words around them is one such strategy.
Another example of metacognition is drawing parallels between
English vocabulary and your native vocabulary. Through such
strategies you will make quicker inferences about what new terms
mean and will be able to listen more efficiently.
Of course, if you have difficulty listening because the other person is
speaking rapidly or using words you have not heard, you should feel
comfortable telling the person. Adaptation to language differences is
the responsibility of everyone involved in a communication situation,
and you should not take on the entire challenge of trying to make the
interaction succeed.

Ways to Be an Ethical
Listener
Although effective listening requires you to adapt your verbal,
nonverbal, and perception-checking skills to specific situations,
such as the workplace, the classroom, and mediated environments,
you must also take care to enact ethical listening behaviors. To be
an ethical listener, you should practice the following behaviors:
1. Recognize the sources of your own conversational habits. Your
family, school, and other life experiences have allowed you
to develop certain habits, which in some situations could be
strengths and in others could represent areas for
improvement. Recognizing those habits will allow you to
more fully adapt to those with whom you are
communicating.
2. Monitor your communication to recognize when you are
engaging in poor listening behaviors. Perhaps the most
important step in becoming an ethical listener is
recognizing that you must work hard to be a good listener—
a step that begins with an awareness of what you are doing
in the situation.
3. Apply general ethical principles to how you respond. Planning
your responses so that you are respectful to others is an
 example of how your personal ethics can influence your
listening behaviors.
4. Adapt to others. Recognize that other people also have
unique communication styles and that you might need to
adapt your listening behaviors so that you can fully
understand what they are trying to say.49
be ready... for what’s next
Taking Notes with Apps
One of the most important skills that you will develop in
college is note-taking. Good notes now may influence your
performance on a test or an assignment; good notes after
graduation may affect your job performance. Many
smartphone, tablet, or laptop apps can be used for note-
taking. People often use these apps because they are
efficient and provide a secure storage option for important
notes.
The recently published book Digital Distractions in the College
Classroom synthesizes advantages and disadvantages of
using digital devices and apps in the classroom. Although
taking digital notes can be as effective as taking
handwritten notes, using your device to take notes can
present a number of distractions, including social media
notifications and the temptation to multitask. When using
a notetaking app, you should take practical steps to avoid
distractions, such as putting your device on airplane mode
and silencing notifications. Additionally, many tablets and
apps allow you to use digital pencils to take notes by
hand. This approach can combine many of the advantages
of handwritten notes with digital notes. Using a stylus or
digital pencil may help you avoid distractions because it is
a more creative and active way of recording information
compared to typing.
Source: Flanagan, A. E., & Kim, J. H. Y. (2022). Digital distractions in the college
classroom. IGI Global.
Chapter Review & Study
Guide
Summary
In this chapter you learned the following:
1. Listening is an important skill because it is one of
our most common communication activities, it helps
us build and maintain relationships, and it is
essential for success in most professional situations.
2. Listening is an active process that differs from the
physical act of hearing.
• Hearing is the physical act of receiving a
sound. We hear all of the noises around us.
Listening is the active process of receiving,
paying attention to, assigning meaning to,
and responding to sounds. Listening is an
active process, whereas hearing is reflexive.
• Listening is a process that involves attention,
working memory, short-term memory, and
long-term memory.
• Listening is generally divided into active,
empathic, critical, and enjoyment listening.
Active listening, which is listening with a
purpose, includes both empathic and critical
listening. Empathic listening occurs when you
are attempting to understand another
person. Critical listening requires evaluating a
speaker’s message for accuracy,
meaningfulness, and usefulness. We also
listen to things, such as music, for enjoyment
purposes.
3. A variety of barriers prevent many of us from being
effective listeners.
 • One barrier is noise, which includes both
physical and internal distractions. Physical
distractions are any audible noises in the
communication environment. Internal
distractions can include mental, factual, or
semantic distractions.
• Perceptions of others can include giving
attention based on status, interacting with
others based on stereotypes, or letting
others’ appearances distract you.
• You can become your own barrier to listening
when you let egocentrism, defensiveness,
experiential superiority, personal biases, or
pseudolistening impair your ability to listen
effectively.
4. Developing skills in critical thinking, nonverbal and
verbal communication, and note-taking will help
you become a more effective listener.
• Critical thinking involves the careful analysis
of both the communication situation and the
speaker’s message. To analyze the message,
you should evaluate the arguments and
supporting material presented by the speaker
and whether or not the speaker is credible.
• Being nonverbally responsive, using positive
facial expressions, making direct eye contact,
and providing positive vocal utterances are
effective nonverbal strategies.
• Asking questions, inviting additional
comments, using descriptive responses, and
providing affirming statements are all
examples of effective verbal strategies.
• Good note-takers typically combine elements
of the narrative, outline, matrix, mind-map,
and Cornell note-taking methods.
 5. Effective listening in the workplace, classroom, and
mediated environment requires you to adapt the
nonverbal, verbal, and critical thinking skills you
learned in this chapter.
6. Ethical listening means that you should recognize
and monitor your own communication style, apply
general ethical principles to your responses, and
adapt your communication style to others.

Key Terms
Active listening
Automatic attention
Critical listening
Critical thinking
Empathic listening
First-person observation
Hearing
Information literacy
Lecture cues
Lecture listening
Listening
Listening for enjoyment
Long-term memory
Schemas
Second-person observation
Selective attention
Short-term memory
Social media listening
Source credibility
Working memory

Study Questions
1. Hearing is a process, and listening is a process.
a. mental; physical
b. physical; mental
c. mental; psychological
 d. physical; physical
Answer
(b)
Revealed content has ended.
2. Which of the following is true of social media
listening?
a. It allows organizations to build brand
excitement.
b. It is declining in effectiveness for
organizations.
c. It hampers an organization’s crisis response.
d. It slows an organization’s response to
problems.
Page 121
Answer
(a)
Revealed content has ended.
3. After you have paid attention to a stimulus, you
then process the material in a part of your short-
term memory called
a. working memory.
b. selective attention.
c. long-term memory.
d. schema.
Answer
(a)
Revealed content has ended.
4. When you are listening and attempting to
understand another person’s worldview, what type
of listening are you utilizing?
a. active
b. critical
c. empathic
d. for enjoyment
Answer
 (c)
Revealed content has ended.
5. If you are thinking about what happened last
weekend at college while listening to your mother
on the phone, you are exhibiting what type of
barrier to listening?
a. stereotypes
b. personal bias
c. egocentrism
d. mental distraction
Answer
(d)
Revealed content has ended.
6. What percent of U.S. citizens over the age of 12
report listening to a podcast in the past week?
a. 22%
b. 37%
c. 41%
d. 54%
Answer
(c)
Revealed content has ended.
7. Which of the following is true of critical thinking?
a. It focuses solely on the details instead of the
main point.
b. It ignores the context in which
communication is occurring.
c. It is important when making judgments
about the message being presented.
d. It is only associated with listening.
Answer
(c)
Revealed content has ended.
8. Asking questions to clarify information,
paraphrasing messages, and identifying confusing
areas are examples of
a. barriers to listening.
b. listening for enjoyment.
c. techniques for checking your understanding
of a message.
d. information literacy.
Answer
(c)
Revealed content has ended.
9. Suggestions for lecture listening include
a. focusing on the lecturer’s delivery and
avoiding summarizing and reviewing the
information.
b. letting your attention stray in order to think
creatively, listening for details, and ignoring
lecture cues.
c. avoiding taking notes so that you can focus
on the lecture and the message delivery.
d. finding areas of interest to you, avoiding
distractions, and listening for main ideas.
Answer
(d)
Revealed content has ended.
10. According to the Public Relations Review, which
of the following contributes to poor listening in
organizations?
a. poor training of lower-level employees
b. over-reliance on surveys
c. listening with concern
d. a lack of pseudolistening
Answer
(b)
Revealed content has ended.
Critical Thinking
1. Identify and explain barriers to listening that you
have experienced in your own communication with
others. Were you able to overcome the barriers,
and if so, how?
2. Take a moment to reflect on a podcast or streaming
channel that you regularly listen to. What are some
ways in which you engage in active listening while
consuming that media?
Sizing Things Up Scoring and
Interpretation
Barriers to Listening
Multiple barriers to effective listening confront us on a
daily basis. Table 5.1 lists several of the most common
barriers. The Barriers to Listening scale created to
accompany this chapter helps you determine the type of
barrier that may pose the greatest difficulty for you in
most situations. You will note that the nine items on the
scale closely align with barriers listed in the table.
The Barriers to Listening scale can be assessed question
by question to determine which barrier or group of
barriers is most challenging for you. You can also average
all questions to obtain an overall value indicating the
extent to which the barriers listed in the table potentially
impede effective listening. If you want to orient responses
so that higher values always represent better listening
behaviors, reverse-code responses for the following
statements: 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9. To do this, an initial
response of 1 should be converted to a 5 and a response
of 2 should become a 4; do the opposite if your initial
response was a 4 or 5.