Barriers against Effective Listening

Barriers against Effective Listening

            Effective listening, most of the time, is distracted by “noise” that refers to any interference or barriers in the communication process. These barriers hinder listening, thus, resulting in poor comprehension of what is being listened to. Those barriers are categorized as:

1.)  External Barriers

·         External barriers are distractions in the environment that keep you from paying careful attention to the message, such as a mosquito biting, a fire truck siren wailing, a cellphone ringing, coughing, whispering, or giggling of teenagers near you while you are listening. External barriers can be temporary but they can also be ongoing or permanent. If you cannot hear your professor because of the rally going on at the school ground, that is temporary distraction, but if you live in a noisy neighborhood, your problem may be long-term, if not permanent.

·         External barriers exist outside the speakers and listeners but can greatly interfere with communications; however, good listeners recognize distractions, so they just ignore or remove them.

2.)  Speaker Barriers

      Some characteristics of the speaker may interfere with effective listening and cause a communication breakdown as enumerated below:

·         Speaker’s appearance – (e.g., his facial looks, hairstyle, clothes, jewelry, posture, and the like)

·         Manner of speaking – (e.g., use of fillers as “you know," “well,” or “okay,”; wetting lips often; pointing the forefinger while talking; looking intently at whatever catches his gaze; nodding incessantly; and any other mannerisms)

·         Prejudice – (e.g., his narrow-mindedness and being biased to certain topics

·         Credibility – (e.g., failure to convince the audience of his expertise in the subject, questionable reputation)

3.)  Self Barriers

      The listener may possibly be a distraction obstructing the listening process because of the following:

·         Internal Distractions – which are thoughts and feelings or physical state (e.g., a break-up in a relationship, anticipation for a party after classes, or a headache that can negatively affect effective listening)

·         Lack of Knowledge – (e.g., unfamiliar terms about the topic or lack of exposure to the topic at hand)

·         Personal  Prejudices and Beliefs – (e.g., dislike for the speaker, belief that you know even more that the speaker, egocentrism)

·         Desire to talk – which is preoccupation with what you would say about the discussion rather than listening or the desire to show off and get the audience’s attention

4.)  Semantic Barriers

     

      The word semantic refers to the meaning of words. The meaning one gives a word can cause misunderstanding and failure of communication. Even words that are the same in sounds but different in meaning like quay and key, peal and peel, whole and hole, as well as scene and seen can be blocks to communication.

     

      The following situation illustrates misunderstanding because of the meaning attributed to a word that was given a different interpretation by the listener. The manager told his secretary, “Here, Miss Dy, burn this!” Following orders, she took a lighter and burned the papers. Thus, the secretary destroyed the only copy of an important document instead of making a copy as the boss intended, “Burn” is synonym of “copy” in computer parlance.

Way to Improve Listening Skills

            Aside from improving your speaking when you work on developing effective listening skills, you are also actively working on improving the quality of your interpersonal relationships. It the people you interact with feel acknowledged through your concentrated attention, they are more likely to give back the same to you. This will lead to success in all your endeavors, so take note of the following tips that can help develop your listening skills.

Tips for Developing Effective Listening Skills

1.)    Understand the difference between “active” and “passive” listening, to listen “actively” means to be engaged and involved; you use every sense you have. To listen “passively” means you hear the words with your ears; you allow the sounds of the words to “go in one ear and out from the other.”

2.)    Eliminate outer distractions. You give the speaker your full attention, and ignore sounds that distract.

3.)    Eliminate inner distractions. Suppress the urge to think about anything other than what you are hearing. If you allow your mind to wander, you become a “passive” listener, not “active.”

4.)    Listen to the tone of the voice. The voice reveals the speaker’s emotional state beyond the words he is using.

5.)    Listen to the tone of the words chosen to express the speaker’s ideas. Changes in tone or pitch within the speech signal subject shifts or transitions. Notice the choice of words used to express the speaker’s ideas. We use different vocabularies depending on to audience.

6.)    Pay close attention to cues heralding noteworthy information or summary statements. Examples: There are two things I want you to remember…; There are three important steps. The first is…; To sum up…

7.)    Resist the urge to respond or react. Let the speaker’s words sink first before saying anything. A premature outburst either in your mind or out loud can block communication.

8.)    Practice playing back what “you think” you heard. Check your understating and use your own words to summarize what was said.

9.)    Be aware of cultural differences. Body language varies significantly across cultures. Before making any conclusion, reflect on your own interpretation or prejudice; be objective.­­­       

Camille Francisco

Mark Bascones