Strategies to Enhance Listening
As you have determined by now, there is much that goes into being an active listener. It starts with recognizing what it means to identify obstacles that prevent you from being an effective listener. It should be clear that active listening takes work. That if you want to be effective, you need to apply yourself to practicing and improving your listening skills. As you begin enhancing these skills, it helps to have strategies that assist you in your endeavor.
Identify and Reduce Distractions
It goes almost without saying that technology plays a large role in many people’s lives. There are those who rely on spending time on their phones to surf the web, connect with friends, read news, or interact on social media. Not everyone does this, nor does everyone have this kind of technology. For those who do, technology can be a large distractor.
Distractions are those experiences, events, or items that pull one’s attention away from what they are doing or to whom they are listening or speaking. Distractions can be a huge barrier to listening, but don’t have to be. One strategy is to identify distractors. Just knowing what distracts you can assist you with designing your communication around lessening these distractions. Without distractors, you can be an active listener.
As an example, Sue loves sports. She wants to meet with a friend to have a serious conversation. Now, since Sue is a big sports fan, it is not the best idea to ask her friend to meet her at a sports bar with many televisions playing various games. Sue will find herself very distracted as she might want to watch her favorite team play. It will not be possible for Sue and her friend to have a personal conversation. Sue made arrangements to meet her friend at a local coffee shop where televisions are not present and she is able to communicate effectively—both while speaking and listening.
To illustrate further, there are many people who go out to dinner together and have everyone place their phone to the side. This happens because people have identified their phones as a distraction and have created a way to eliminate this distraction. Parents might tell their kids that there are no phones at the table during meals, or teachers might have students place their phones in a bucket at the classroom door before sitting.
In each case, these distractions were identified and a strategy was adopted to reduce being sidetracked from the communicative event. This identification and thus action is important if you want to speak and listen well.
In the following video, sound expert Julian Treasure suggests ways to listen more effectively.
You can view the transcript for “5 ways to listen better | Julian Treasure” here (opens in new window).
What to watch for:
As one might expect, Treasure uses audio effects very effectively in his speech, especially to suggest the ways in which distractions can interfere with our ability to listen to each other. Audio effects can be tricky to use technically (sound systems are notoriously unpredictable), but when they’re used well, they can make your audience sit up and take notice.
Keep an Open Mind
It is critical to keep an open mind when listening. Keeping an open mind refers to the ability to listen to what is said as it is said. This act allows the person to shed any barriers because you are willing to listen to the other person unencumbered.
Listening to a point of view does not mean that you are adopting that point of view. It means that you are listening to what is said and learning about a new perspective even if you don’t agree. Sometimes, this results in causing emotions to surface. If this is the case, you can recognize that emotion, ask to pause the conversation, step away, or write down the point that upsets you and return to the conversation. You do not have to deny your emotions; you can explore these at a later time. You will find that having an open mind helps with reducing these feelings.
Yuki attended a lecture at a nearby library. The topic was of interest to her so she arranged for a babysitter and made time to attend. Yuki knew before she went that the topic had two ways of going. One direction would be to challenge her own belief system and the other would reinforce her belief system. Even so, Yuki decided to go to learn about other perspectives. Thus, she arrived at the event with an open mind that allowed her to listen attentively to what was said even though the topic did not resonate with her belief system. In fact, the speaker challenged her as Yuki thought it might.
As can be seen, having an open mind assisted with creating an attitude that allowed Yuki to listen actively to the speaker. It did not mean that she had to change her beliefs or behave differently. It did give her a better idea as to what someone who believes differently than her thinks, which is a positive outcome.
Come Prepared
It is a good habit to come prepared for most things, including listening. We can plan to listen. For example, if you know that you are attending a music concert with a musician you do not know, it helps to learn about this person by reading a biography and listening to their music. If you are attending a workshop by a known speaker at work, it helps to research this person. Who are they, what is their specialty, why are they here?
By coming prepared, you help your mind to not wander while you listen. You are less likely to wonder about the person who needs your attention. Preparation helps you put any distracting thoughts aside and be present when listening.
Take Notes
Taking notes can also advance your ability to be actively engaged in the speaker’s words. You need not write down everything the speaker is saying. First, this is quite likely to be impossible. Second, once you are caught up in recording a speaker’s every word, you are no longer listening. Use a tape recorder instead—having asked the speaker’s permission first—if you feel you really must capture every word the speaker utters. You want to focus your efforts on really listening with an active mind. Learning to focus your attention on main points and key concepts, and gaining the overall gist of the speaker’s talk are other skills to develop. You might endeavor to develop these skills by jotting down a few notes or even drawing visuals that help you to recall the main ideas. The manner in which you take the notes is up to you; what is important is the fact that you are listening and working to process what is being said. Writing down questions that come to mind and asking questions of the speaker when possible are two more ways to guarantee effective listening as you have found an internal motivation to listen attentively.
Note-Taking Systems
The following is a chart with a brief explanation of the main note-taking systems.
| Method | Description | When to Use |
|---|---|---|
| Lists | A sequential listing of ideas as they are presented. Lists may be short phrases or complete paragraphs describing ideas in more detail. | This method is what most listeners use as a fallback if they haven’t learned other methods. This method typically requires a lot of writing, and you may find that you are not keeping up with the speaker. It is not easy for students to prioritize ideas in this method. |
| Outlines | The outline method places the most important ideas along the left margin, which are numbered with roman numerals. Supporting ideas to these main concepts are indented and are noted with capital letters. Under each of these ideas, further detail can be added, designated with an Arabic number, a lowercase letter, and so forth. | A good method to use when material presented by the speaker is well organized. Easy to use when taking notes on your computer. |
| Concept Maps | When designing a concept map, place a central idea in the center of the page and then add lines and new circles in the page for new ideas. Use arrows and lines to connect the various ideas. | Great method to show relationships among ideas. Also good if the speaker tends to hop from one idea to another and back. |
| Cornell Method | The Cornell method uses a two-column approach. The left column takes up no more than a third of the page and is often referred to as the “cue” or “recall” column. The right column (about two-thirds of the page) is used for taking notes using any of the methods described above or a combination of them. | The Cornell method can include any of the methods above and provides a useful format for calling out key concepts, prioritizing ideas, and organizing review work. Most colleges recommend using some form of the Cornell method. |
Cornell Notes
Cornell notes are often used to keep track of the structure and main points of a speech or lecture. You begin by creating two columns on your paper—draw a vertical line about 1/3 of the way across the paper. On the right-hand side, you write down notes as you listen or read. In the left-side column, you add in questions and elaborate on the things you wrote on the other side. It follows this general structure:
- Record: write down notes from the reading or lecture on the right side of the paper.
- Question: write down questions or keywords on the left side of the paper that connect to the notes on the other side.
- Recite: Cover the detailed notes on the right side of the paper and ask yourself the questions from the left side, or use the keywords to see how much you can recite from the reading or notes.
- Reflect: Think deeply about the notes and try to make connections between what you already know and what you learned.
- Review: Review your notes frequently—before class, after class, before an exam, etc.[1]
You can view the transcript for “How to use the Cornell note-taking method” here (opens in new window).
- The Cornell Note-taking System (opens in new window). The Learning Strategies Center. Cornell University. ↵
