Barriers to Effective Listening

There are a variety of causes for poor listening. Some people may be more focused on their own thoughts and ideas and may not fully pay attention to what others are saying. Others may be easily distracted by external stimuli (e.g. noises) or may not be interested in the topic being discussed. Some people may also have difficulty processing spoken information at the pace that the speaker expects. These challenges can be considered barriers to listening and can impact any of the stages of the listening process.

  • At the receiving stage: incoming stimuli can be blocked by noise or physical barriers.
  • At the interpreting stage: complex or abstract information may make it hard to reach an understanding.
  • At the recalling stage: natural limits to short-term and working memory, as well as issues with transfer to long-term memory, and problems with concentration and attention may interfere with remembering.
  • At the evaluating stage: personal biases and prejudices can interfere with how well we analyze and evaluate information.
  • At the responding stage: poor paraphrasing and questioning skills can result in misunderstanding.

Source

There are several types of listening barriers, including:

  • Environmental and physical factors
    • Lighting
    • Temperature
    • Furniture arrangement
    • Proximity to speaker
    • Environmental noise
    • Physiological noise
      • Pain from illness, bodily stress, etc.
      • Tiredness
    • Psychological noise
      • Mood, interest level, emotional stress, etc.
  • Cognitive factors
    • Cognitive limits
    • Lack of listening preparation
    • Difficult or disorganized messages
    • Difference between speech and thought rate
  • Personal barriers to concentration
    • Prejudices against the speaker or message content
    • Self-centeredness and self-consciousness
    • Lack of motivation
    • Multitasking
    • Daydreaming
    • Pretending to pay attention
    • Response preparation
  • Bad listening practices
    • Interrupting
    • Distorted listening
    • Eavesdropping
    • Aggressive listening
    • Narcissistic listening
    • Pseudo-listening

Discuss

❓ Answer the following question in the padlet below: Have you ever experienced any of the barriers to listening? If so, which ones?

📺 Watch the video below to learn more about listening barriers.

From the video, we learned about the following barriers to listening:

1) Distraction: Using your phone, noise, or other conversations happening around you can all act as a source of distraction to your listening process.

2) Preoccupation: Thinking about something else, anxiety, drifting, and thinking about the future.

3) Focusing on the details: Focusing on the details and missing the bigger picture.

4) The topic: boring, no interest.

5) Rebuttal tendency: Trying to figure out what to say next instead of focusing on the communicated message.

6) The speaker: boring or uninteresting, speaking in an off way.

Discuss

❓ What are some of the barriers you struggle with as a listener?

Effective Listening Skills

📺 Watch the video below to explore effective listening skills.

How do I improve my listening skills in each of the stages of the process?

Rudge (1993) suggests strategies to improve listening in each of the stages of the listening process:

1) To improve listening at the receiving stage, ◦ Prepare yourself to listen, ◦ Discern between intentional messages and noise, ◦ Concentrate on stimuli most relevant to your listening purpose(s) or goal(s), ◦ Be mindful of the selection and attention process as much as possible, ◦ Pay attention to turn-taking signals so you can follow the conversational flow, and ◦ Avoid interrupting someone while they are speaking in order to maintain your ability to receive stimuli and listen.

2) To improve listening at the interpreting stage, ◦ Identify main points and supporting points; ◦ Use contextual clues from the person or environment to discern additional meaning; ◦ Be aware of how a relational, cultural, or situational context can influence meaning; ◦ Be aware of the different meanings of silence; and ◦ Note differences in tone of voice and other paralinguistic cues that influence meaning.

3) To improve listening at the recalling stage, ◦ Use multiple sensory channels to decode messages and make more complete memories; ◦ Repeat, rephrase, and reorganize information to fit your cognitive preferences; and ◦ Use mnemonic devices as a gimmick to help with recall.

4) To improve listening at the evaluating stage, ◦ Separate facts, inferences, and judgments; ◦ Be familiar with and able to identify persuasive strategies and fallacies of reasoning; ◦ Assess the credibility of the speaker and the message; and ◦ Be aware of your own biases and how your perceptual filters can create barriers to effective listening.

5) To improve listening at the responding stage, ◦ Ask appropriate clarifying and follow-up questions and paraphrase information to check for understanding. ◦ Give feedback that is relevant to the speaker’s purpose/motivation for speaking, ◦ Adapt your response to the speaker and the context, and ◦ Do not let the preparation and rehearsal of your response diminish earlier stages of listening.