Listening is such a basic task that most of us assume we listen just fine! But truly active listening takes practice and focus. Without strong active listening skills, effective communication becomes impaired, if not impossible.
GENERAL LISTENING ADVICE
PRACTICE FOCUSING. It’s normal that our minds wander sometimes when we’re listening, but try to notice when that happens. When it does, refocus your attention on the speaker or discussion. Intentionally practicing such redirection helps you increase your ability to focus for longer durations. Taking notes helps, too.
POSITION STRATEGICALLY. It’s helpful to sit in a spot in the room where you can clearly see and hear the person who’s speaking. Also, be sure to position your body so as to be as attentive as possible. That involves sitting up straight and not slouching, leaning your face on your hands, or reclining in your seat.
LISTEN TO UNDERSTAND. This may seem self-evident, but your goal when listening to others is to understand and learn. That means that your goal with listening shouldn’t be to formulate things that you want to say, nor should your goal be to find ways to convince other people of your position. This can be harder than you think when a topic is one about which you have strong feelings, particularly if you’ve had those feelings for a long time. But listen to try to understand and even appreciate a speaker’s point of view, even — or especially — when it differs from yours.
SEEK CLARIFICATION. If you’re struggling to understand an idea, be willing to raise your hand and say “I’m a little confused about X. Can you explain it again?” If you see a connection between something that you just heard and material from another lecture (or from class readings), it might help to ask your professor about whether they agree that such a connection exists — and ask them to clarify the current content further.
DIFFERENT LISTENING CONTEXTS
LECTURES. Make sure to read all assigned readings ahead of class, which helps you know what to expect in class. Try to understand the pattern of organization underlying the arrangement of course material — for instance, is it structured to provide a historical overview or a problem/solution structure, etc.?
Listen for summaries of information to help you understand main ideas. Note how different parts of each lecture relate. Notice when the professor ties concepts in one lecture to something said in a previous lecture, and see if you can notice relationships between the current lecture’s information and other lectures/class readings.
DISCUSSIONS. Make sure to listen attentively when others are speaking rather than just waiting until you can make a comment. Notice when there are pauses, which might indicate a particularly complex or nuanced idea that people need time to think through, and try to ask questions that help to untangle such complexities.
LISTENING IN ANOTHER LANGUAGE. Use the context of what you’re listening to (the news, a conversation about food, a movie about family life, etc.) to predict the types of things someone might say. This can prime you to recognize words that are familiar to you. Also listen for “signposts,” or words signaling what comes next (phrases that contain meanings for “1st” and “2nd” indicate a listing of information or steps in a process, while words that mean “but” or “however” indicate contrast, for example). Aim to understand the main idea of what’s being said, even if you don’t understand all details. But note that nouns and adjectives are particularly helpful in providing the big picture of what a speaker is saying.
FURTHER RESOURCES
Boston University. Active Listening handout.
British Council. “Five Essential Listening Skills for English Learners,” 2015.
Monash University (Australia). Student Academic Success. “Active Listening.”
University of NC at Chapel Hill Learning Center. “Academic Listening Strategies