Being Human - Rockhurst University

Think you’ve had enough of what you coulddo to improve? Because more than half yourworkday is spent listening, you may want toconsider evidence that points out what poor,ineffective, and inefficient listeners we are:•Group members may be poor listenersbecause they count on others to listen —so who is?•Immediately after listening to a report, mostof us can’t accurately report 50 percent ofwhat was said. Unless we’re trained, we maylisten at only 25 percent efficiency. Thismeans we only comprehend and retainabout a quarter of what we hear.•We may distort or inaccurately recollectwhat we remember by about 80 percent.And if all this isn’t daunting enough, considerhow none of what you could do or learnwould matter at all — you wouldn’t improve,you wouldn’t be more powerful or richer or popular,you wouldn’t be a leader with credibility.You would still mess up a relationship now andthen because you might still lack that third andcrucial element in communication effectivenessand appropriateness: motivation. Knowledgeand skill are essential, but someone will seethrough you soon enough if that’s all you havein your favor. Knowledge and skill have to besupported with the appropriate motivation orwillingness or desire to listen, the desire tolearn about others, the desire to let someoneknow you care about them, and the desireto be helpful.That kind of motivation or personalrelevance exists only in our own minds.Are You Listening?Do you:• Look at the speaker, put down your remote control, notice how a sad faceaffects your message interpretation?• Let the other person know you’re listening with facial or oral expressions?• Distinguish facts from inferences or opinions?• Ask questions to clarify meaning?• Help speakers tell you more about how they feel or what they think?ROCKHURST18