4.4: Poor Listening Habits

Studies have shown that immediately after listening to a 10-minute oral presentation, the average listener remembers only half (50%) of the message. Within 48 hours, listeners recall only 25%–one-fourth–of the presentation. Poor listening accounts for much of this steep decline. It’s not difficult to anticipate the many problems we can create for ourselves through these poor listening habits.

Poor Listening Habits

The International Listening Association identifies many habits that can interfere with our ability to listen effectively.  As we analyze a few of the most common problems, attempt to identify your own listening habits.

Interrupting the Speaker

Conversations unfold as a series of turns, with conversational turn-taking similar to a dance where communicators try to avoid stepping on each other’s toes. One of the most frequent problems in the turn-taking process is interrupting a speaker before they are finished speaking. You may interrupt because you are only half-listening and jump in at the first pause. Interrupting the speaker with “That reminds me…” or “That’s nothing, let me tell you about…” in an attempt to dominate the conversation is rude and offensive. Continually finishing the speaker’s sentences should also be avoided.

Not all interruptions are considered poor listening, however. Some interruptions may be statements intended to show support (“I think so too”) or to express excitement about the conversation (“That’s so cool!”). Supportive paralanguage like “uh-huh,” also may overlap a speaker’s message.  These interruptions are not evidence of bad listening unless they become distracting for the speaker.

Pretending to Pay Attention (Fake Listening)

Do you have a friend or family member who repeats stories? If so, you’ve probably pretended to pay attention or engaged in “fake listening” as a politeness strategy. Outwardly visible signals of attentiveness are an important part of the listening process, but when they are just an “act” are evidence of poor behaviors.  Many of us smile, nod, and act as though we are paying attention and interested when our mind is somewhere else. Particularly in the classroom or workplace, we should avoid fake listening. Although we may get away with it in some situations, each time we do it, we risk being “found out,” which could be embarrassing or have negative consequences.

Allowing Yourself to Be Distracted

Most communicators speak at a rate of 125 to 175 words per minute, but listeners can process between 400 and 800 words per minute.  Think about that. We think around four times faster than a communicator can speak. This gap between speech rate and thought rate gives us ample opportunity to give in to distractions such as daydreaming or reaching for our mobile phones.  Instead of surrendering to the temptation to plan lunch or dinner or to engage in other thoughts unrelated to the message, good listeners learn to use this extra mental processing time to repeat the message, paraphrase it, or apply it to their own experiences. Some listeners find that taking brief notes helps them focus. Effective listeners discipline themselves to resist the temptation to text, check social media, or succumb to external or internal distractions.

Media Multitasking and Listening

Do you check your social media account during virtual meetings or classes? Do you read text messages at work? Do you watch television while you read your textbook? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, you are engaged in multitasking.

Although many of us like to think that we’re good at multitasking, research indicates otherwise. Studies analyzing use of laptop computers during class found that laptops interfered with the receiving stage of listening, with students using them reporting they paid less attention to the class lectures. Often this was because students used the laptops for purposes other than taking notes or exploring class content. Of the students using laptops, 81 percent checked e-mail during lectures, 68 percent used instant messaging, and 43 percent surfed the web. Students using laptops also had difficulty with the interpretation stage of listening, as they found less clarity in the parts of the lecture they heard and did not understand the course material as much as students who didn’t use a laptop or mobile phone. The difficulties with receiving and interpreting obviously create issues with recall that can lead to lower academic performance.

Laptop use also negatively affected the listening abilities of students not using the devices. These students reported that they were distracted, as their attention was drawn to the screens of other students. Although these examples are about laptops, mobile phones have now taken over as likely media multitasking culprits (Fried, 2008).

In an article written for the Cleveland Clinic, Neuropsychologist Cynthia Kubu (2021) explains that multitasking not only affects listening, it can also affect our ability to learn, because in order to learn, we need to be able to focus. “We’re really wired to be monotaskers, meaning that our brains can only focus on one task at a time…The more we multitask, the less we actually accomplish, because we slowly lose our ability to focus enough to learn,” Dr. Kubu says. “If we’re constantly attempting to multitask, we don’t practice tuning out the rest of the word to engage in deeper processing and learning.” Bellur, Nowak, & Hull (2015) found that college students who tried to multitask took longer to do their homework and had lower average grades.

Factors that Interfere with Listening

Some of the factors that interfere with good listening might exist beyond our control, but others are manageable. It’s helpful to be aware of these factors so that they interfere as little as possible with understanding the message.

Noise

Noise is anything that interferes with your ability to attend to and understand a message. To listen effectively, we must learn to overcome noise.

Physical noise refers to sounds or other distractions in our environment that interfere with our ability to hear and pay attention. Construction noises right outside a window, planes flying directly overhead, a classmate talking, and a television blaring are all examples. If possible, a listener should manage the environment to reduce the noise. Close the window, or ask the people in the next room to turn their television down. Move to a different seat in the classroom if that will take care of the problem. When you are responsible for recording a speech, participating in a virtual discussion, or conducting a meeting at work or school, it is important to choose a setting where physical noise won’t interfere with your or your audience members’ ability to hear and listen.

Psychological noise refers to a listener’s thoughts and internal distractions. When you are preoccupied with personal problems or worried about an upcoming test, it is difficult to give your full attention to the message. The presence of another person to whom you feel attracted, or perhaps a person you dislike intensely, can also draw your attention away from the message. Setting aside personal distractions may be difficult, but good listeners must have the willingness and self-discipline to do so.

Physiological noise refers to distractions caused by our bodies.  If you are hungry, hot, tired, or have a headache, you will probably find it difficult to listen. We can avoid some physiological noise by healthy habits such as getting enough sleep, eating breakfast, and dressing appropriately for the environment.  However, some physiological noise–such as illness or a headache–can’t be anticipated.  In this event, you can request postponing the meeting or conversation to another time.

Semantic noise occurs when a listener experiences confusion over the meaning of a word or phrase. While the listener attempts to understand, the speaker continues to present the message. For example, assume you are listening to a speaker who mentions using a sweeper to clean carpeting. You are confused because you do not see how a broom would be effective in cleaning carpeting. Only later do you learn that the speaker was using the word “sweeper” to refer to a vacuum cleaner.  In the meantime, your listening was hurt by your inability to understand that term. Words in the English language commonly have more than one meaning.  In “10 Words in the English Language With the Most Definitions,” author Melina Glusac (2019) explains there are at least ten words with hundreds of definitions each. “‘Go’ has 368, for instance, and ‘set’ has 430. The word ‘run’ is anticipated to have approximately 645 different meanings in the next Oxford English Dictionary, set for a 2037 release” (Winchester, 2011). No wonder listeners experience semantic confusion, particularly those who are still learning the language.

Listener Biases

Good listening demands that we keep an open mind and withhold judgment until the communicator has finished speaking.  Listener biases can refer to one of two things: prejudice toward the speaker or preconceived ideas about the topic. Both biases can interfere with effective listening.

One type of listener bias is directed toward the speaker.When we have preconceived notions based on a speaker’s appearance, accent, or demeanor, those biases can interfere with our ability to listen accurately and competently. Listener bias comes into play when we ignore the speaker because we don’t like the way they are dressed or because we disagree with their political beliefs. When we fail to listen to a work colleague who annoys us for some reason or to a classmate whom we believe has little of value to say about the topic, we are demonstrating listener bias toward the speaker.

Another type of listener bias results when we have preconceived ideas about the topic. The biased listener may believe, “I don’t need to listen because I already know all about the topic,” or “I already know what I believe.” Maybe you’ve heard the subject discussed a thousand times, so you just tune out the speaker. Or perhaps the speaker is presenting a position you fundamentally disagree with. When listeners have strong preexisting opinions about topics such as political candidates, gun ownership, the death penalty, religion, abortion, or global warming, their biases may make it difficult for them to even consider new information, especially if the new information is inconsistent with what they already believe to be true.

Listeners may have difficulty identifying our biases, especially when our biases seem to make sense. However, we have an ethical obligation to withhold judgment and listen to others. Our lives would be very difficult if no one ever considered new points of view or new information. We live in a world where everyone can benefit from clear thinking and open-minded listening.  Oscar Wilde said, “Listening is a very dangerous thing. If one listens, one may be convinced.”

Listening or Receiver Apprehension

Listening or receiver apprehension is the fear that you might be unable to understand the message or process the information correctly. In some situations, you might worry that the information presented will be “over your head”—too complex, technical, or advanced for you to understand adequately. Many students will actually avoid registering for courses in which they feel certain they will do poorly. In other cases, students will choose to take a challenging course only if it’s a requirement. This avoidance might be understandable but is not a good strategy for success.

Research has shown us that when listeners do not feel they understand a speaker’s message, their apprehension escalates. Imagine that you are listening to a lecture about chemistry and the professor begins talking about “colligative properties.” You may start wondering whether you’re even in the right place. In this situation, keep in mind that your professor’s job is to help you understand. Most professors welcome and encourage questions, so do not be afraid to ask them. If you still don’t understand, take advantage of your professor’s office hours; that is what they are for. The same thing is true in the workplace; if you don’t understand, ask questions.

References

Bellur, S., Nowak, K. L., & Hull, K. S. (2015). Make it our time: In class multitaskers have low academic performance. Computers in Human Behavior, 53, 63-70.

Fried, C. B. (2008). In-class laptop use and its effects on student learning. Computers and Education, 50, 906-914.

Glusac, M. (2019, January 10). 10 words in the English language with the most definitions. Insider.

Kabu, C. (2021, March). Why multitasking doesn’t work. Health Essentials, 10.

Winchester, S. (2011, May 28). A verb for our frantic times. The New York Times, Opinion.