The Art of

Listening

LISTENING IS EVERYWHERE !

• IN CLASSROOM

• ON INTERNET

• MOVIES

• GOSSIP

• IN CORPORATION

• CONSUMER

Why Listening?

• Poverty of Culture.

• American v/s Japanese Management

• Indian Scenario – The Assembly of Listener

• What speaker is trying to say?

• Why is he saying it?

What is the most

precious resource ?

ATTENTION SPAN

It’s a Psychic Energy

“Attention is a limited resource”

• The brain can process on the order of

110 bits of information each

second.

• 16 hours each day + 75 years

=

173 billion bits of information.

Quality of Life

• what we pay attention to, and

• how we pay attention,

Psychological Capital

Think about it.

Entertainment for

young people.

IN 1850’S

Playing with friends

In 1930.

• Playing with friends &

• Add radio &

• Pulp magazines &

• Beginning of cheaper toys for kids.

In 1960.

• Playing with friends &

• Add radio &

• Pulp magazines &

• Beginning of cheaper toys for kids.

• Now you have T.V

In 1970’s & 80’s

• Playing with friends &

• Add radio &

• Pulp magazines &

• Beginning of cheaper toys for kids.

• Now you have T.V

• Music Station

• ATARI – Video Game

In 1990’s• Playing with friends &

• Add radio &

• Pulp magazines &

• Beginning of cheaper toys for kids.

• Now you have T.V

• Music Radio

• ATARI – Video Game

• Computer Game

• Nintendo & Playstation

In 2000’s• Playing with friends &

• Add radio &

• Pulp magazines &

• Beginning of cheaper toys for kids.

• Now you have T.V

• Music Radio

• ATARI – Video Game

• Computer Game

• Nintendo & Playstation

• Mobile, I-Pod, Blackberry

• Online Gaming, Facebook

Some facts: Americans

• Spend at least 8.5

hrs. daily looking at

television, a

computer monitor or

the screen of their

mobile phone.

• Sending or receiving

- 2272 texts a

month.

Effect of this

Swarming Gadgets

Testimony

• …..…I used to find it easy to immerse myself in abook or a lengthy article. My mind would getcaught up in the twists of the narrative or the turnsof the argument, and I’d spend hours strollingthrough long stretches of prose.

• That’s rarely the case anymore. Now myconcentration starts to drift after a page or two. Iget fidgety, lose the thread, begin looking forsomething else to do. I feel like I’m alwaysdragging my wayward brain back to the text.

Nicholas Carr

• Executive Editor of theHBR – specialized inediting and writingarticles onbusiness, strategy, information technology andthe Internet.

• Pulitzer Prize –Nominated Finalist

• Scott Karp: - …confesses that he has stopped reading

books altogether. "I was a lit major in college, and used

to be [a] voracious book reader.”

• Bruce Friedman: - …."I now have almost totally lost the

ability to read and absorb a longish article on the web

or in print.”

• Philip Davis : - "I read a lot—or at least I should be

reading a lot – only I don’t. I skim. I scroll. I have very

little patience for long, drawn out, nuanced

arguments.”

• The Human attention span as we

know diminishes from full attention to

zero over a duration of 110 to 15

minutes.

• “The addictive nature of web browsing

can leave you with an attention span

of nine seconds – the same as a

goldfish,” - 2002.

• 57% of US teens have a short

attention span

• Twitter -140 characters,

• 12seconts.tv - twelve seconds.

• Stim tv – ultra short video clip

• Average length - Just 2.7 minutes.

The Information Age

• Too much info;

• Too many options;

• Too much noise;

ROBBERS OF ATTENTION !

Tens of thousands of advertisements on

television, websites, billboards, and the radio on a daily basis.

Overflowing Brain

• Short Term Memory

• Long Term Memory

We’re unable to retain the information or to draw connection….ability to maintain attention depend on

working memory

British medical journal The

Lancet:

• “A mix of additives commonly

found in children’s foods

increases the mean level of

hyperactivity.”

• “….that the hyperactivity could

increase in as little as an hour

after artificial additives were

consumed.”

One study of 2600 children

• …..that early exposure to

television (around age two)

is associated with later

attention problems such as

inattention, impulsiveness,

disorganization, and

distractibility at age seven.

Tips to Increase

Your Attention Span

• Find a quiet place and set a timer. Avoid

checking it every five seconds to see how

much time has passed. Instead, relax and

enjoy the moment.

Paint or Draw

Meditate

Use Gadgets wisely

Increasing Attention Span

Improves Your Listening Skill

5 Steps to Poor Listening:

Poor Listening:

1. Just Keep Talking

2. When you're not talking, think about what

you're going to say next

3. Interrupt Frequently

4. Look away

5. Never, ever, ask clarifying questions.

Empathic

Listening

Guidelines for Empathic Listening

• Be attentive. Be interested.

• Don't ask a lot of questions..

• Act like a mirror .

• Don't discount the speaker's feelings byusing stock phrases like "It's not that bad,"or "You'll feel better tomorrow."

• Non judgmental

• Indicate you are listening by

– Providing brief, noncommittal

acknowledging responses, e.g., "Uh-huh,"

"I see."

– Giving nonverbal

acknowledgements, e.g., head

nodding, facial expressions matching the

speaker, open and relaxed body

expression, eye contact.

• Follow good listening "ground rules:"

– Don't interrupt.

– Don't change the subject or move in a new

direction.

– Don't rehearse in your own head.

– Don't interrogate.

– Don't teach.

– Don't give advice.

– Do reflect back to the speaker what you

understand and how you think the speaker feels.[9]