Effective Listening Skills PDF

CHAPTER “Listening is an art that 5 requires attention over talent, spirit over ego, others over...

CHAPTER “Listening is an art that 5 requires attention over talent, spirit over ego, others over self.” -Dean Jackson- EFFECTIVE LISTENING BETWEEN THE MEMBERS Subtopics:- 5.1 Attending the speech 5.2 Understanding and remembering speech information 5.1 Attending the speech 5.1.1 Speech of introduction A good speech of introduction can be delight to hear and can do much to ease the task of the main speaker. Usually you will say something about the speaker and about the topic-in that order. Following are some guideline for speech of introduction. Be brief: Every speaker-and audience-who has ever sat through a long winded introduction knows how dreary it can be. The purpose of a speech of introduction is to focus attention on the main speaker, not on the person making the introduction. Under normal circumstances, a speech of introduction will be no more than two or three minutes long, and it may be shorter if the speaker is already well known to the audience 1|P a g e C h a p t e r 5 Make sure your remarks are completely accurate: Many an introducer has embarrassed himself or herself, as well as the main speaker, by garbling basic fact about the speaker. Always check with the speaker ahead of time to make sure your introduction is accurate in every aspect. Above all, get the speaker’s name right. This may seem obvious, but it needs repeating. Remember that nothing is more important than a person name. If the speaker’s name is at all difficult-especially if it involves a foreign pronunciation -practice saying it well in advance. However don’t practice so much that you frighten yourself about getting it wrong. This was plight of an announcer whose gaffe is now a classic: Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States- Hoobert Heever! Adapt your remarks to the occasions: In preparing your introduction, you may be constrained by the nature of the occasion. Formal occasions require formal speeches of introduction. If you were presenting a guest speaker at an informal business meeting, you might be much more causal than if you were presenting the same speaker to the same audiences at a formal banquet. Adapt your remarks to the audience. Just as you adapt other speeches to particular audiences, so you need to adapt a speech of introduction to the audiences you are facing. Your aim is to make the audience want to hear this speaker on this subject. If the speaker is not well known to the audience, you will need to establish her or his credibility by recounting some of the speaker’s main achievement and explaining why she or he is qualified to speak on the topic at hand. But if the speaker is already personally known to the audiences, it would be absurd to act as if the audience had never heard of the person. 5.1.2 Speech of Acceptance The purpose of an acceptance speech is to give thanks for a gift or an award. When giving such a speech. You should thank the people who are bestowing the award and you should recognize the people who helped you gain it. The acceptance speech that follows is the companion piece to the speech of presentation by Chill Clinton. It was delivered by Nelson Mandela in accepting the Congressional Gold Medal Award, and it exemplifies the major traits of a good acceptance speech. 2|P a g e C h a p t e r 5 5.1.3 Commemoratives speeches Commemoratives speeches are the speech of praise or celebration. As an informative speech, you probably have to give the audience information about your subject. After all the audience must know why the subject is praiseworthy. They will need to know something about the history of the institution or the life of the person being praised. As in other speeches, you may draw on examples, testimony, even statistics to illustrate the achievement of your subject. Your fundamental purpose in a commemoratives speech, however, is not just to inform your listener but to inspire them. To arouse and heighten their appreciation of or admiration for the person, institutions, or idea you are praising. When speaking to commemorative, you do not exhort like the advocate or explain like the lecturer. 5.1.4 after dinner speech After dinner speeches may be harder to define than any other kind of speech. While the custom of saying a few words to tribute or celebration after a meal is as old as civilization itself, after dinner speeches as a formal type of speech developed in England during the early 1800s. After dinner speeches are best trough of as kind of speech to entertain. Whether presented after breakfast, lunch, or dinner. 5.2 Understanding and remembering the speech. It is important for the audience to get realize and get extra knowledge from the speech. The effective speaker can be measured by the level of understanding of the audiences. In order to get the understanding from the audiences, the speaker need to organized the speech very well. Regardless of your topic, your speech will have three main parts-an introduction, a body and conclusion. Your furst job in the introduction is to get attention and interest of the audiences. You can do this by posing a questions, telling a story, making a startling statement, or opening with a quotation. The purpose of all these methods is to create a dramatic, colorful opening that will make your audience want to hear more. 3|P a g e C h a p t e r 5 Hearing vs. Listening  Hearing and listening are really two very different things. Hearing is involuntary and uncontrollable. Listening, however, requires an attention.  Every public speaker had a moment where they asked themselves, 'Did the audience hear me?' Well, the real question is, 'Are they listening?' and that is definitely a matter of choice.  Listening is a voluntary act where we try to make sense out of the noise we hear. That could be your partner telling you to rake the leaves or your boss droning on about the latest plummeting sales figures. But the worst is when a speaker is on stage vying for your attention. In any event, hearing and listening are very different because listening requires conscious action. Steps in the Listening Process  Hearing - sound enters the eardrums and travels to the brain  Attending - our brain receives the sound and decides what to pay attention to  Understanding - take what is meaningful and apply it to the social context  Remembering - storing the information for use at a later time 4|P a g e C h a p t e r 5 Public Speakers Need to Be Good Listeners, Too.. When a public speaker sets out to create the speech of a lifetime, he first must do some snooping. The best way a public speaker can glean information about his potential audience is by asking open-ended questions. These questions require an extended answer rather than a simple yes or no. So, when the public speaker is sitting down with his client, he should ask questions about the audience, their education level, interests and other important details. It will help him to create a more relevant presentation. 5|P a g e C h a p t e r 5 Remembering speeches can be a very intimidating experience. There are many ways one can remember material. 1. Memorizing 2. Reading from complete text 3. Using Notes 4. Using Visual Aids as Notes Memorizing  This is absolutely the worst way to keep track of material. People are preoccupied with trying to remember the words to say and not the ideas behind the words (or with the audience).  As a result, normal voice inflection disappears. With memorizing, mental blocks become inevitable. With memorizing it is not a matter of "will" you forget; it's a matter of WHEN! 6|P a g e C h a p t e r 5 Reading from complete text  Listening to someone read a speech or presentation is hated by most people. People say, "If that's all they were going to do is read there speech, I could have read it myself.  Below are some reasons why believe people read poorly: 1. The speaker loses normal voice inflection because they lose touch with the ideas behind the words. Listen for pauses. Natural speech is filled with pauses; unnatural speech is not. 2. There's no or little eye contact - any eye contact is with the text, not the audience. To read text while trying to maintain eye contact with the audience takes a lot of practice. Using Notes  This is the most common way for remembering material. Using notes is better than reading since the speaker can have normal voice inflection and make more effective eye contact.  If your notes are on the lectern, you probably won't move very far from them. If notes are in your hand, you probably won't gesture very much. 7|P a g e C h a p t e r 5 Below are some suggestions to consider if you decide to use notes: 1. Use note cards. Include quotes, statistics and lists you may need, NOT paragraphs of text. VERY IMPORTANT: Number your note cards! (Just in case you drop them). 2. Don't put too much information on each note card or you will find yourself reading too much. Put only a few words or key phrases. 3. Practice using your note cards. If you find yourself reading your note cards too much, this is a sure clue you need to reduce the amount of written text on each card. Remember, all you need are short phrases or key words, enough to "jog" your memory. Using Visual Aids As Notes Simple visual aids can effectively serve as headings and subheadings. Speak to the heading. Say what you want to say and move on. If you forget something, that's okay; the audience will never know unless you tell them. You don't have to worry about what you are going to say next. Your visual aids provide you with your "cues" of your next major idea or thought. Having only a few key words on your visual aid allows you to move around the room without the need or feeling you need to go back to your notes. In fact, most inexperienced speakers don't move around at all. Movement also helps you to relax and adds energy to your presentations. 8|P a g e C h a p t e r 5 9|P a g e C h a p t e r 5  Question Review: a) As a speaker how we can adapt the audience to our speech? b) What it means by commemoratives speech? c) Gives the example of after dinner speech. d) Is there any difference between hearing and remembering? If yes please state. e) Summarise this chapter from your own understanding. 10 | P a g e C h a p t e r 5