Poor Listening Habits |
Good Listening Habits |
| 1. Calling a subject boring. Poor listeners will tune out if they decide the subject is boring. | A good listener listens closely for information that is important or useful. |
| 2. Criticizing the speaker. A poor listener finds fault with the speaker (what they look like, wear, etc.) or says that the speaker can't have anything worthwhile to say. | A good listener realizes that looks are not important and will listen for ideas rather than seeking things to criticize. |
| 3. Overreacting. Poor listeners disagree so strongly with the speaker that they miss the rest of the talk. | A good listener listens with the mind, not the emotions, and simply jots down a disagreement to ask about later. |
| 4. Listening for facts only. Poor listeners don't think about the "big picture" or main ideas that go along with the facts. | A good listener wants to see how the facts explain the ideas and the evidence supports arguments, and realizes facts are important only in relation to principles, ideas, and arguments. |
| 5. Faking attention. Poor listeners lock eyes onto the speaker and then relax and daydream. | A good listener realizes each talk is a chance to get facts and ideas that the speaker took hours to prepare. |
| 6. Giving into distractions. Poor listeners will use distractions (footsteps, coughs, door closing) as an excuse to stop listening. | A good listener shuts out distractions and concentrates on the speaker's message. |
| 7. Choosing only the easy stuff. Poor listeners want to be entertained and don't want to take the trouble to figure out complex ideas. | A good listener is intellectually curious and wants to see how the speaker proves his or her points. A good listener is not afraid of new and/or complex ideas. |
| 8. Wasting thought speed. Poor listeners (because thought speed is faster than speech) will use thought speed to think about personal problems or distractions, thus falling behind the speaker. | Good listeners use thought speed and any pauses to figure out main ideas, summarizing the high points and looking forward to the rest of the talk. |
Adapted from Walter Pauk, How To Study In College, Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1974.
A well-organized lecture is like a well-written essay. Both have the same structure and development. To listen efficiently, the student must recognize what this structure and development entails.
| Lecture Organization | Implications |
| 1. Introduction | Sets the social situation; establishes context |
| 2. Thesis | Topic; main idea |
| 3. Body | Development of main idea-not more than six points |
| 4. Summary | Restates, lists, summarizes, and/or gives significance |
| 5. Irrelevancies | Digressions, jokes, stories |
Not all lectures are well organized. If this is the case, the student should try to identify important points through the instructor's delivery cues.
| Delivery Clues | Identification |
| 1. Visual | What is written on the board or overheads |
| 2. Vocal | Transitional words which key students to main ideas; repetition of ideas or phrases; pauses; voice level and speed |
| 3. Postural | Hand gestures; the way instructor moves in class |
