Mastering Active Listening and Public Speaking Skills
Active Listening
What is the difference between hearing and listening?
Hearing is the process of your ears picking up sound waves. This happens all the time whether you want to or not, whether you are awake or asleep. It is a physical process that does not involve the use of the brain. Listening is a psychological act which involves more than one of the senses, and it is a conscious action to listen and understand. Listening requires attention, interpretation, and analysis, and it is not a skill you are born with, but a skill you must learn and master. Active listening has verbal and non-verbal components.
Verbal Components
- Brief affirmations
- Brief inquiries: “Really?”, “How?”, “Why?”, “Can you explain that?”
These brief interruptions have a positive effect on the speaker, but they are only acceptable in a conversation or a casual speech with few people. Paraphrasing to demonstrate understanding, open-ended questions, or specific questions about the subject that was discussed.
Non-verbal Components of Active Listening
Now that you have learned what the verbal components of active listening are, you are ready to learn about the nonverbal components. These will be the most valuable to you as a public speaker. Non-verbal communication is something we learn to interpret when growing up. It plays a very important role in our relationships and society. We use non-verbal communication, or body language, to express the whole message of what we are saying or as a reaction to what we are hearing. Our gestures, posture, facial expressions, and body positioning reveal our true feelings.
- Eye contact: When giving a speech or presentation, it is important to notice if your audience is maintaining eye contact with you.
- Posture: The way we stand can say a lot about us.
- Body movements: These are the movements and gestures we make when communicating.
- Facial expressions: For most people it is very hard to control their facial expressions when they are feeling scared, angry, excited, or happy.
- Paralanguage: Paralanguage are aspects of the speech that are not related to the content of what is being said.
- Hand gestures: Including hand gestures in your public speaking is a great way to keep your audience actively listening to you.
Obstacles of Active Listening
- Noises that distract from the speaker.
- Looks.
- Interest.
- Sympathy rather than empathy.
- Previous experiences.
- Body movements.
Verbal vs. Nonverbal Communication
- 55% Visual: Body Language
- 38% Vocal: Voice or Tone of voice
- 7% Verbal: Words
Your Voice Is Your Instrument!
Vocal Aspects of Delivery
While Mehrabian’s rule says that only 7% of the impact of your speech is associated with the words you speak, this does not mean that your choice of words is not important. Pronunciation is clustering the right letters to make the correct sounds, enunciation is the act of speaking clearly so that others understand.
Pitch and Inflection: Your vocal quality is the natural sound and texture of your voice, and it is as unique as your fingerprint. The way it sounds is determined by your lungs, vocal chords, diaphragm, body size, mouth, and even hormones, and just like any other physical trait, it’s usually inherited from your parents.
Pace
Projection
Own the Stage! Presence and Movement
Space
Involuntary Props
Facial Expressions
Hand Gestures
Public Speaking and Fear
Glossophobia is a heightened fear of public speaking, ranging from mild to severe, it impairs people who suffer it from speaking in a public setting.
Master Your Nerves: Tips for Conquering the Stage
- Exercise
- Breathe
- Let go of Your fear
- Eye contact
- Magic triangle
- Pauses
- Talk to the audience, not at them
- Trick your brain
- Crack a joke
If All Else Fails, Find Your Zen
Color shape, Counting backs, energy fists, Connecting With Your Audience
Connecting With Your Audience
Body Language and Emotions It Conveys
Acceptance: When an audience accepts what you are saying or agrees with you, they will nod their heads slowly and smile.
Attention: When we hear something that calls our attention, we naturally want to go closer to the message, so we lean our bodies forward.
You got them thinking: When we hear something that requires us to stop and contemplate the idea, our hands are usually the first to react.
Confusion: When you hear something that baffles or confuses you, your body becomes asymmetrical.
Impatience: If you are taking too long in your speech or an idea has been accepted by the public but you keep on explaining it, they will get impatient.
Boredom: When an audience is bored they stop listening to what you are saying.
They are uncomfortable: When we hear something that makes us comfortable, we want to get as far away from the message as possible so put our bodies as far away as they can go in the chair.
Hostility: When an audience is hostile or angry at you, they will figuratively block you.