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causes for poor listening_______________________________________________2

4. Rehearsing____________________________________________________3

8. Being Defensive________________________________________________4

Lack of Prioritization______________________________________________5

Focusing on Style, Not Substance____________________________________5

References 7
causes for poor listening

Research shows that after two days we retain only one fourth of what we hear. In fact, we do not
hear all that is said and forget many of the things we hear. This is a reflection of our poor
listening habits.

Inefficiency of listening can be harmful for the organization. Some people like to take more than
they like to listen, some listen selectively, some cannot concentrate for long on what others are
saying or some may just listen superficially without really bothering about what is being said. All
this leads to ineffective listening.

It is possible to improve your listening habits by identifying which are the poor listening habits
and then working upon them to change them.

1. Inattentiveness

Not paying attention to the speaker is one of the major causes of inefficient listening. The
listener may get distracted or may not want to hear what is being said. The listener withdraws his
attention and starts daydreaming.

2. Faking Attention or ‘Pseudolistening”

Often people who are not actually listening and are thinking about something else deliberately
try to look as though they were listening. The listener may do so as not to appear rude or
discourteous to the listener. At times, this may lead to disasters in communication because such
pretence may leave a speaker with the impression that the listener has heard some important
information or instructions offered by him.

3. Focusing on Delivery
Sometimes a person concentrates on how someone says something that he pays little attention to
what he or she is actually saying. The listener may focus on the appearance and other nuances of
the speaker and may, in the bargain, miss out on the real meaning of what is being said.

4. Rehearsing

If the listener is thinking about his reply before the other person has finished, then in all
probability he is not listening. Some people listen until they want to say something; then they
quit listening, start rehearsing what they will say, and wait for an opportunity to respond.

5. Interrupting

Some people prefer to do the speaking rather than listen to someone speak. Such a listener does
not wait for the speaker to complete what he is saying so that the complete meaning can be
determined, but interrupts often resulting in a break of the chain of thought of the speaker and
thus hampering the communication process. Unnecessary interruptions may discourage and
irritate the speaker.

6. Hearing what is Expected

People like to hear what they want to hear. Very often, people think they heard speakers say
what they expected them to say. Further, people tend to accept only that part of the
communication which is consistent with their existing beliefs.

Alternatively, they refuse to hear what they do not want to hear and what goes against their
beliefs and perception. Poor listeners tend to filter those parts of the message from their
understanding which do not readily fit with their own frame of reference.

7. Avoiding Difficult and Uninteresting Material

The listener may just switch off listening when he finds the material difficult to understand or
uninteresting. This may become a habit with the listener and he will conveniently stop listening
every time he encounters some difficult or uninteresting material. Many a times, the listener may
assume in advance that the subject is boring, unimportant or difficult
8. Being Defensive

Sometimes listeners feel threatened by what the speaker is saying and they immediately become
defensive, that is, they try to justify their stance on whatever is being said. They may just
overreact to certain words and phrases. They get so involved in guarding themselves that they do
not get the actual message of what is being said.

9. Being on the Offensive

Some listeners seem to wait for the chance to criticize someone. They listen intently for points
on which they can disagree and vent out their criticism. They constantly try to counter whatever
is being said. Here too they miss out the actual message of what is being said.

The act of listening is affected by any barrier that impedes the flow of information. For this
reason, it’s nearly impossible to listen well all the time. As a result, poor listening is common
place. These barriers include distractions, an inability to prioritize information, a tendency to
assume or judge based on little or no information (i.e., “jumping to conclusions), and general
confusion about the topic being discussed. Listening barriers may be psychological (e.g., the
listener’s emotions) or physical (e.g., noise and visual distraction).

Some of the most common barriers to effective listening include low concentration, lack of

prioritization, poor judgement, and focusing on style rather than substance.

Low Concentration

When a listener is not paying attention to a speaker’s dialogue, effective communication is

significantly diminished. Low concentration, or not paying close attention to speakers, can result

from various psychological or physical situations including visual or auditory distractions,

physical discomfort, inadequate volume, lack of interest in the subject material, stress, or

personal bias. Both listeners and speakers should be aware of these kinds of impediments and

work to eliminate or mitigate them.


When listening to a speech, there is a time delay between when a speaker utters a sentence to

the moment the listener comprehends, or “decodes,” the speaker’s meaning. Normally, this
process happens within the span of a few seconds. If this decoding process takes longer, the

listener has to catch up to the speaker’s words if he or she continues to speak at a pace faster

than the listener can comprehend. Often when they stop understanding, listeners simply give up

and stop listening. To help listeners better understand what they are saying, speakers need to

know which parts of their speech may be more difficult to understand than others, and adjust the

speed, vocabulary, and sentence structure accordingly.

Lack of Prioritization

Just as lack of attention to detail in a conversation can lead to ineffective listening, so can

focusing too much attention on the least important information. Listeners need to be able to pick

up on social cues and prioritize the information they hear to identify the most important points

within the context of the conversation.

Often, the information the audience needs to know is delivered along with less pertinent or

irrelevant information. When listeners give equal weight to everything they hear, it makes it

difficult to organize and retain the information they need. For instance, students who take notes

in class must know which information to write down within the context of an entire lecture.

Writing down the lecture word for word is impossible as well as inefficient.

Jumping to Judgement

When listening to a speaker’s message, it is common to overlook aspects of the conversation or

make judgments before all of the information is presented. Listeners often engage in
confirmation bias, which is the tendency to isolate aspects of a conversation to support one’s

own preexisting beliefs and values. This psychological process has a detrimental effect because

listeners tend to form opinions without first obtaining all pertinent information.

Focusing on Style, Not Substance

The vividness effect explains how vivid or highly graphic and dramatic events affect an

individual’s perception of a situation. When observing an event in person, an observer is

automatically drawn toward the sensational, vivid, or memorable aspects of a conversation or

speech. In the case of listening, distracting or larger-than-life elements in a speech can deflect

attention away from the most important information in the presentation.

Cultural differences (including the speaker’s accent and vocabulary) and differences in physical

appearance can also obstruct the listening process. Listeners should focus on the substance of

the message, rather than the speaker’s style of delivery or appearance.

References

https://www.managementstudyhq.com/poor-listening-habits.html

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