4.2 Listening Barriers
Biases & Prejudices
Lack of Appropriate Focus
Premature Judgement
Distractions: Mental & Physical
Mental Distractions Include:
Physical Distractions can include:
Cell Phones
Loud music
Noisy environment
Hearing impairment
Zoning Out
Becoming too Emotional
Interrupting Thoughts
I often find myself distracted by noise most often.. at home, things such as Netflix or youtube are always playing, where as at school, I am sometimes distracted by notifications on my phone or laptop
I often find myself distracted by thoughts in class that don't relate to school, such as a date night or a work problem
In biased and prejudiced listening, your listening is influenced by stereotypes.
This can occur when you listen to someone differently because of things such as their:
Affectional Orientation
Age
Race
Gender
Focusing on what a person is saying is necessary for effective listening
however, listeners often get lost because they focus on irrelevant things or get detoured from the main idea
you shouldn't get hung up over unimportant details
Avoid interpreting everything in terms of what it means to you
see other's perspectives
as a speaker, say what is relevant to your Specific listener
don't try to anticipate how you're going to respond to the speaker, it just takes your focus away from them
The most obvious form of premature judgement is assuming you know what the speaker will say. So you think there's no reason to listen
Common Listeners often:
stop listening after they feel the speaker lost credibility
Jump to conclusions