Poor listening habits to avoid

Most people spend most of the time listening than they spend on any other type of communication. Yet a large percentage of people never listen efficiently. One cause is that they grow with poor listening habit and continue with them all the way through life. Half of the verbal messages heard in the day are totally understood, whereas the other half is not.

Specialists researched that we listen with only 25 percent efficiency, we ignore, forget, alter or misinterpret 75 percent of everything we hear. Poor listening habits may also lead to lack of training. We are inefficient listeners, since we are able to process speech much quicker than others can speak. Most speakers talk to approximately 125- 175 words per minute, listeners can listen to about 450 words per minute. Causing delay, bringing up day dreaming, which decreases listening efficiency.

The following list comprises of some of the most common poor listening habits:

1. Self-styled listening: Often, people who are thinking about something else intentionally try to look like they are listening.  Such gestures may leave the speaker thinking that the listener has heard some significant information or orders presented by the speaker when this is not really true.
2. Interrupting: The thought of even interrupting makes one a bad listener, because they don’t want to wait until the whole point is made clear by the speaker and would forcefully stop the speaker in the middle of a sentence. This also makes disturbs other listeners and is not professional at all.
3.  Listening but not hearing: Occasionally an individual listens only to facts or details or to the way in which they are presented and fails to get the definite importance of the communication.
4. Not paying attention: Listeners may let themselves to be unfocussed or to think of something else.  Furthermore, not wanting to listen frequently contributes to lack of consideration.
5. Feeling protective: The listeners assume that they are aware of the speaker’s objective or the reason why something was told, or for many other causes, they presume to be criticized.
6.  Practising: Some individuals only listen until they want to say something or it is their turn (like in a presentation), then they stop paying attention and start rehearsing what they will say and have other concerns.
7.  Hearing what is predictable: People often think that they heard speakers say what they expected them to speak. Alternately, they decline to hear what they don’t want to hear and end up missing some importation information due to their predictions.

 Sources:

(n.d.). Retrieved November 1, 2015, from https://www.cjebaltimore.org/sites/default/files/Improving Your Listening Habits.pdf