DR.

SYED ZULKARNAIN SYED IDRUS

School of Human Development & Technocommunication (iKOM)

Email: syzul@unimap.edu.my
 TOPIC 1
LISTENING
&
RESPONDING EFFECTIVELY
 Topic outline
• 1. Listening definition
• 2. Ten obstacles in listening process
• 3. Effective listening
• 4. Six effective listening strategies
Why do you have two ears
and only one mouth?
You have two ears and
one mouth.
Follow that ratio.
Listen more, talk less.
 Listening: Definition
Listening is a complex process
(choosing what to be heard, pay attention,
try to understand and remember)
that happen when we response to sounds
(that represent certain meaning)
we hear.
[so what is one major difference between Listening
& Hearing?]
 Definition: Response
Response can be shown in various forms, for example
the movement of parts of body
(moving your body wildly when listening to your favorite
music group live in concert),
or
(Singing along as a return to a song delivered, )
or
in a more complex form,
(thinking about the message being delivered by the lead
singer,
and followed by an effort to remember the message.)
 Why do we listen?
• To think (mental process) and learn something

• To get information

• To feel the feelings of others

• To socialize

• To entertain and to sooth our feeling

10 OBSTACLES
in listening process
1. FOCUSING ON PERSONAL
AGENDA
While a lecturer is talking,
your mind is focusing or thinking of, something else
related to yourself ‘This subject seems so tough...how would I
survive?’
or something that related to the speaker,
‘Hmmm he/she looks so serious...I am afraid even to ask a
permission to go to the ladies’

The personal matters that are not related to the topic

discussed is called personal agenda.
 2. THINKING OF
OTHER MATTERS
While the speaker is talking about human negative
attitude, you are thinking of ...
The heavy downpour outside...the
beautiful/handsome someone you just met prior
to this class....

which is not relevant to the topics

discussed.
 3. EMOTIONAL DISTURBANCES
While communicating, you are shrouded with various kind
of emotion:

„ANGRY because you had to get up early to attend

UUT122 class‟

„SAD because you had been cyberbullied on Facebook‟

„BORED and FRUSTRATED because you forgot to save

the assignment you just typed‟

„RESTLESS because your gf/bf caught you red handed

after having an affair on a social network‟
 4. HEALTH DISTURBANCES
While information is delivered,
you are focusing on:

your stomachache after having an uncooked maggi

mee last night,
 5. CRITISIZING THE SPEAKER
While evaluating, what you are doing is to look for
the good or bad aspect of the
thought
(idea, proposal, opinion or reason),
behavior or
characteristics (height, body size, beauty) of the speaker.

Listening process will be strongly abandoned if you are

trying to look for the negative aspects of the thought or
behavior or outstanding characteristics (e.g., too fierce)
of the speaker.
 6. RATE OF SPEECH
There are people who are able to talk very fast
until we are not able to process the messages
delivered.
 7. INFORMATION OVERLOAD
Information overload makes our mind feel tired.
The tired mind makes us feel bored.

Actually the boredom state is the factor that

avoid us from listening effectively.
 8. EXTERNAL
DISTURBANCES
...is stimuli in the form of
sound, climate, temperature,
other people who talks, or
people who comes in and out while the
speaker deliver his/her speech.
 9. MAKING WRONG
ASSUMPTION
You are trapped in this phenomenon when you :

(1) feel that you already know about the information

that will be delivered,

(2) assume that the information going to be delivered is

too simple for you to think of,

(3) assume that the information going to be delivered is

too complex for you to think of.
 10. MAKING PREMATURE
JUDGEMENT
You tend to evaluate others before they were given the
chance to give explaination, especially if your ideas are
against their ideas.

In this situation normally you will think of a stategy and

ways on how to ambush them in order to show
weakness in their thinking or ideas.

The purpose of the ambush is to gain personal win in the

battle of „whose idea is the best‟.
EFFECTIVE
Listening
 Definition
Effective listening is the process of
focusing on the messages heard
(listen with ears),
detemining, analysing and
determining the speaker‟s thought
(„listen‟ with your heart),
and ended with responding accordingly to the
messages delivered.
6 effective listening
strategies
 1. Determine
the purpose of listening
Why do you want to listen?
learning?
to get information?
to feel other people‟s feeling?
socializing?
For entertainment?

For a different purpose, you need a different

listening strategy.
 2. Try to identify the speaker’s
pattern of thought
Identify how the speaker develope his/her thinking
technique:
The Process of the speaker‟s thinking – the way the
speaker‟s deliver information ? [Casual?, urgent? etc]

Definition – try to understand the speakers situation

Cause and Effect – what is the outcome of the message

being delivered
etc.
 3. Summarize the information into
main ideas

If the messages heard are extensive due to the

comprehensive details, think inductively
(specific to general).

Conclude the information into a sentence or

several short sentences which can represent an
idea or several main ideas.
 4. Listen emphatically

When you listen to the speaker who is trying to

share their feelings, listen emphatically; be
patient and try to feel their emotions.

Their facial expression should be able to show you

their feelings: the madness or happiness they
feel. When they talk you should focus on their
face or eyes.

continue...
...from previous slide.

Provide social support, for examples:

• Touch their shoulder and say, “I believe you can stand the
challenge.”

• Promise the speaker that you will keep the information shared
with you as a secret between you.

• Say that you are sorry that the speaker has to face the situation or
problem.

• Give hope to the speaker.

• Help the speaker in the form of assistance or monetary if you are

able to do so.

• Together pray for their happiness in the future undertaking.

5. Change the obstacles into purpose
Examples:

Restrain your personal agenda (until when class ends…),

and try to choose a better time to share your agenda.

Remind yourself to hold back your emotion, especially the

negative feelings.

Do not criticize the speaker, focus on the message.

Change the „ambush‟ strategy (eg: asking questions that
out of speaker‟s expertise) always remind yourself that
if others have weakness, so do we.
 6. Do not trust your ability to
memorize

If your listening purpose is to gain knowledge and

information, make it a habit to jot down important
information that needed to be memorize;
summarize the important points.

Do not trust your ability to memorize. Information will

disappear as soon as we heard it if we do no try to
remember it as soon as possible or as often as possible.