Learning Objectives
- Understand the types of noise that can affect a listeners ability to attend to a message.
- Explain how a listeners attention span can limit the listeners ability to attend to a speakers message.
- Analyze how a listeners personal biases can influence her or his ability to attend to a message.
- Define receiver apprehension and the impact it can have on a listeners ability to attend to a message.
At times, everyone has difficulty staying completely focused during a lengthy presentation. We can sometimes have difficulty listening to even relatively brief messages. Some of the factors that interfere with good listening might exist beyond our control, but others are manageable. Its helpful to be aware of these factors so that they interfere as little as possible with understanding the message.
Noise
Noise is one of the biggest factors to interfere with listening; it can be defined as anything that interferes with your ability to attend to and understand a message. There are many kinds of noise, but we will focus on only the four you are most likely to encounter in public speaking situations: physical noise, psychological noise, physiological noise, and semantic noise.
Physical Noise
Physical noise consists of various sounds in an environment that interfere with a sources ability to hear. Construction noises right outside a window, planes flying directly overhead, or loud music in the next room can make it difficult to hear the message being presented by a speaker even if a microphone is being used. It is sometimes possible to manage the context to reduce the noise. Closing a window might be helpful. Asking the people in the next room to turn their music down might be possible. Changing to a new location is more difficult, as it involves finding a new location and having everyone get there.
Psychological Noise
Psychological noise consists of distractions to a speakers message caused by a receivers internal thoughts. For example, if you are preoccupied with personal problems, it is difficult to give your full attention to understanding the meanings of a message. The presence of another person to whom you feel attracted, or perhaps a person you dislike intensely, can also be psychosocial noise that draws your attention away from the message.
Physiological Noise
Physiological noise consists of distractions to a speakers message caused by a listeners own body. Maybe youre listening to a speech in class around noon and you havent eaten anything. Your stomach may be growling and your desk is starting to look tasty. Maybe the room is cold and youre thinking more about how to keep warm than about what the speaker is saying. In either case, your body can distract you from attending to the information being presented.
Semantic Noise
Semantic noise occurs when a receiver experiences confusion over the meaning of a sources word choice. While you are attempting to understand a particular word or phrase, the speaker continues to present the message. While you are struggling with a word interpretation, you are distracted from listening to the rest of the message. One of the authors was listening to a speaker who mentioned using a sweeper to clean carpeting. The author was confused, as she did not see how a broom would be effective in cleaning carpeting. Later, the author found out that the speaker was using the word sweeper to refer to a vacuum cleaner; however, in the meantime, her listening was hurt by her inability to understand what the speaker meant. Another example of semantic noise is euphemism. Euphemism is diplomatic language used for delivering unpleasant information. For instance, if someone is said to be flexible with the truth, it might take us a moment to understand that the speaker means this person sometimes lies.
Figure 1.Types of Noise
Many distractions are the fault of neither the listener nor the speaker. However, when you are the speaker, being aware of these sources of noise can help you reduce some of the noise that interferes with your audiences ability to understand you.
Attention Span
A person can only maintain focused attention for a finite length of time. In his 1985 book Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business, New York Universitys Steinhardt School of Education professor Neil Postman argued that modern audiences have lost the ability to sustain attention to a message.[1] More recently, researchers have engaged in an ongoing debate over whether Internet use is detrimental to attention span.[2] Whether or not these concerns are well founded, you have probably noticed that even when your attention is glued to something in which you are deeply interested, every now and then you pause to do something else, such as getting a drink of water, stretching, or looking out the window.
The limits of the human attention span can interfere with listening, but listeners and speakers can use strategies to prevent this interference. As many classroom instructors know, listeners will readily renew their attention when the presentation includes frequent breaks in pacing.[3] For example, a fifty- to seventy-five-minute class session might include some lecture material alternated with questions for class discussion, video clips, handouts, and demonstrations. Instructors who are adept at holding listeners attention also move about the front of the room, writing on the board, drawing diagrams, and intermittently using slide transparencies or PowerPoint slides.
If you have instructors who do a good job of keeping your attention, they are positive role models showing strategies you can use to accommodate the limitations of your audiences attention span.
Receiver Biases
Good listening involves keeping an open mind and withholding judgment until the speaker has completed the message. Conversely, biased listening is characterized by jumping to conclusions; the biased listener believes, I dont need to listen because I already know what I think. Receiver biases can refer to two things: biases with reference to the speaker and preconceived ideas and opinions about the topic or message. Both can be considered noise. Everyone has biases, but good listeners have learned to hold them in check while listening.
The first type of bias listeners can have is related to the speaker. Often a speaker stands up and an audience member simply doesnt like the speaker, so the audience member may not listen to the speakers message. Maybe you have a classmate who just gets under your skin for some reason, or maybe you question a classmates competence on a given topic. When we have preconceived notions about a speaker, those biases can interfere with our ability to listen accurately and competently to the speakers message.
The second type of bias listeners can have is related to the topic or content of the speech. Maybe the speech topic is one youve heard a thousand times, so you just tune out the speech. Or maybe the speaker is presenting a topic or position you fundamentally disagree with. When listeners have strong preexisting opinions about a topic, such as the death penalty, religious issues, affirmative action, abortion, or global warming, their biases may make it difficult for them to even consider new information about the topic, especially if the new information is inconsistent with what they already believe to be true. As listeners, we have difficulty identifying our biases, especially when they seem to make sense. However, it is worth recognizing that our lives would be very difficult if no one ever considered new points of view or new information. We live in a world where everyone can benefit from clear thinking and open-minded listening.
Listening or Receiver Apprehension
Listening or receiver apprehension is the fear that you might be unable to understand the message or process the information correctly or be able to adapt your thinking to include the new information coherently.[4] In some situations, you might worry that the information presented will be over your headtoo complex, technical, or advanced for you to understand adequately.
Many students will actually avoid registering for courses in which they feel certain they will do poorly. In other cases, students will choose to take a challenging course only if its a requirement. This avoidance might be understandable but is not a good strategy for success. To become educated people, students should take a few courses that can shed light on areas where their knowledge is limited.
As a speaker, you can reduce listener apprehension by defining terms clearly and using simple visual aids to hold the audiences attention. You dont want to underestimate or overestimate your audiences knowledge on a subject, so good audience analysis is always important. If you know your audience doesnt have special knowledge on a given topic, you should start by defining important terms. Research has shown us that when listeners do not feel they understand a speakers message, their apprehension about receiving the message escalates. Imagine that you are listening to a speech about chemistry and the speaker begins talking about colligative properties. You may start questioning whether youre even in the right place. When this happens, apprehension clearly interferes with a listeners ability to accurately and competently understand a speakers message. As a speaker, you can lessen the listeners apprehension by explaining that colligative properties focus on how much is dissolved in a solution, not on what is dissolved in a solution. You could also give an example that they might readily understand, such as saying that it doesnt matter what kind of salt you use in the winter to melt ice on your driveway, what is important is how much salt you use.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Listeners are often unable to accurately attend to messages because of four types of noise. Physical noise is caused by the physical setting a listener is in. Psychological noise exists within a listeners own mind and prevents him or her from attending to a speakers message. Physiological noise exists because a listeners body is feeling some sensation that prevents him or her from attending to a speakers message. Semantic noise is caused by a listeners confusion over the meanings of words used by a speaker.
- All audiences have a limited attention span. As a speaker, you must realize how long you can reasonably expect an audience to listen to your message.
- Listeners must be aware of the biases they have for speakers and the topics speakers choose. Biases can often prevent a listener from accurately and competently listening to a speakers actual message.
- Receiver apprehension is the fear that a listener might be unable to understand the message, process the information correctly, or adapt thinking to include new information coherently. Speakers need to make sure their messages are appropriate to the audiences knowledge level and clearly define and explain all terms that could lead to increased anxiety.
EXERCISES
- In a group, discuss what distracts you most from listening attentively to a speaker. Have you found ways to filter out or manage the distraction?
- This chapter refers to psychological noise as one of the distractions you might experience. Identify strategies you have successfully used to minimize the impact of the specific psychological noises you have experienced.
- Make a list of biases you might have as a listener. You can think about how youd answer such questions as, With whom would I refuse to be seen socially or in public? Who would I reject as a trustworthy person to help if I were in danger? What topics do I refuse to discuss? The answers to these questions might provide useful insights into your biases as a listener.
- Postman, N. [1985]. Amusing ourselves to death: Public discourse in the age of show business. New York: Viking Press.
- Carr, N. [2010, May 24]. The Web shatters focus, rewires brains. Wired Magazine. Retrieved from //www.wired.com/magazine/2010/05/ff_nicholas_carr/all/1
- Middendorf, J., & Kalish, A. [1996]. The change-up in lectures. The National Teaching and Learning Forum, 5[2].
- Wheeless, L. R. [1975]. An investigation of receiver apprehension and social context dimensions of communication apprehension. Speech Teacher, 24, 261268.