7.4 Barriers to listening
In order to improve your listening skills you need to be aware of the major barriers to effective listening. Some barriers come from the listeners themselves (for example, disinterest in the topic), some from the sender (for example, a boring tone) and others from the environment (too much noise).
Probably the most famous study about listening was undertaken by Ralph Nichols who examined 100 of the poorest listeners and 100 of the best listeners in a university setting. His 10 bad listening habits are often quoted in communication texts (see Gibson & Hodgett 1990, for example). They are:
- deciding in advance that the subject is uninteresting
- focusing on the poor delivery of the speaker
- becoming overexcited and anxious to make your own point
- focusing only on facts
- a tendency to outline everything
- pretending to pay attention
- allowing distractions to interfere
- avoiding difficult material
- responding emotionally to certain words or phrases
- daydreaming because of the difference between speech speed and thought speed.
Activity 7f
- Read through Barriers to Listening on pages 87-88 of your textbook.
- Provide examples of barriers that affect your listening.
- From Table 4.5 on page 88, which behaviour(s) have you experienced yourself or have observed in others?
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