Barriers to Effective Listening
Communication lies at the core of all human activities. Effective communication is essential since productivity increases when people understand each other. Listening skills are a basic set of skills that make up effective communication. Poor listening skills lead to misunderstanding and poor relations among the people communicating. Although I have experienced several listening barriers that lead to a misunderstanding, I have also identified and developed listening strategies that have increased my listening skills.
Noise is one of the most common barriers to active listening. Noise is a distraction, and it is impossible to concentrate in a noisy environment. I have experienced noise as a listening barrier, but one occasion remains embedded in my memory. When I was in high school, I attended a peer counseling conference and team building. The conference was held in a community hall where several student volunteers from nearby schools were in attendance. The conference had been organized by guidance and counseling teachers to motivate volunteer peer counselors and train them on how to handle distress calls from fellow students. Coincidentally, there was a birthday party being held in the community park, just outside the community hall. Besides the birthday party, children were running around and shouting as they played. As the music from the birthday party increased, the speakers were forced to shout to be heard. Conversations in noisy surroundings are impossible to understand. Once in a while, I got distracted by the noise coming from the park and failed to understand what the speakers were saying. During the team-building activities, most students got distracted, and the exercises did not go as planned. To our disappointment, the conference ended prematurely because the noise became a barrier to active listening. As the conference ended, I requested the organizers of the event to choose a quiet venue where speakers and the audience would understand each other.
During the conference, I also experienced other barriers before the noise hijacked the conference. I was visually distracted by the ongoing birthday preparation outside the community hall. People were decorating, and I kept looking at the various decorations. I found my eyes darting from the speaker and looking at the birthday preparations outside. At some point, I forgot that I was at a conference and imagined what the people outside the hall were discussing.
I faked attention as I thought about what I would speak about during my turn to speak. The peer counseling leaders of each school were to give a brief presentation of the challenges they faced in their schools. Therefore, as other peer counseling leaders gave their presentations, I maintained eye contact and even nodded to show that I was hearing, whereas my mind was thinking about my presentation. I thought about how I would make my presentation interesting to hold the attention of the audience. In so doing, I did not listen to the presentation of peer counseling leaders from other schools.
The barriers I experienced during the conference contributed to my inability to listen effectively. The noise from the community park was a constant psychological distraction. The noise interfered with my ability to process incoming information. Also, due to the noise, I could not perceive what the speakers were saying because the noise was louder than their voices. The constant visual distractions also prevented me from listening effectively. There were instances where I heard the speaker until I got distracted by flashy colors outside the hall. As mentioned earlier, there were ongoing birthday preparations outside the building, and I got visually distracted by the decorations. My mind veered off from the speaker, and I started imagining what the people outside were discussing. When I saw children playing, I started reminiscing how I used to play in the park when I was a child. A combination of the noise and visual distractions prevented me from listening effectively. Faking attention also interfered with my ability to process incoming presentation. I was unable to understand what other people were saying because I was thinking about what I would present. I failed to relate to the problems other schools experienced because my mind was fixated on my presentation.
Barriers to active listening can be overcome by implementing several strategies. One can avoid visual distractions by maintaining eye contact with the speaker. Most visual distractions have psychological effects, and they can be avoided by maintaining eye contact. Facing the speaker also allows one to observe non-verbal cues, which also improves listening skills. Faking attention can be prevented by taking notes when another party is speaking. One should pretend that the speaker is talking about a new concept and, thus, the importance of taking short notes. Also, taking notes prevents one from thinking about how they will respond or present ideas. In my case, I would have listened effectively if I had noted down the presentations from other schools instead of faking attention.
Noise as a barrier to effective listening can be avoided by choosing a quieter location. A public place like the community hall is prone to noise because many people access the amenity. The peer counseling conference would have been more effective had the organizers chosen a quiet location like the auditorium of one of the schools participating in the conference. Maintaining eye contact prevents visual distractions. Also, one can notice non-verbal cues that serve to complement oral communication. Taking notes when another party is speaking prevents one from faking attention. One has to listen attentively to write the correct information, and thus, faking attention is impossible.
In conclusion, several strategies can be implemented to overcome barriers to active listening. Noise can be overcome by using a quiet location; visual distractions can be overcome by maintaining eye contact, and faking attention can be avoided by taking short notes to sustain attention. One should first identify the barrier to implement an effective strategy.