Overview

Developing effective listening and speaking skills can positively affect your success in school, sports, jobs, and personal relationships. By listening actively, you will improve your comprehension skills and be better equipped to understand, interpret, and respond to what you hear. The following are some strategies you can use to improve your ability to listen actively: eliminate physical distractions, clear your mind of other thoughts, adopt a positive attitude and keep an open mind, focus your attention on the speaker's message, take notes, summarize and reflect on what you hear, ask questions, discuss the message with others, and, finally, assess the message.

Everyday you hear many persuasive messages. Evaluate what you hear so that you can come to your own conclusions. Ask yourself: What is the purpose of the message? To what audience is this message targeted? What is fact? What is opinion? Are there missing facts? Does the message contain errors in reasoning? What kind of persuasive techniques are used in the message? What values or biases does the message reflect? What's you opinion of the message? Do you need more information before you can decide?

To assess a performance (a play, poem, short story, or novel) ask the following questions. Does the performer effectively use voice qualities such as volume, stress, tone, and pronunciation to present the work? Does the performer use body language to engage the audience? What elements of the literary work does the performance emphasize? What is the effect of these elements? How would you rate the performer's interpretation of the literary work and why?

Like active listening, speaking effectively influences your relationships with others and your success in groups. Most speaking is informal, or unprepared. However, sometimes, you will need to make formal speeches. To do so, you should go through a similar preparation process as with writing: consider the purpose of your speech and the audience to which you will be presenting it; research your topic thoroughly and then create an outline; draft and revise your speech using one of several strategies to grab your audience's attention; prepare note cards or an outline to guide you through your speech; practice your delivery—adjust your volume, pronunciation, pace, tone, emphasis, posture, eye contact, facial expressions, and gestures; and prepare visual aids as necessary.

By improving your listening and speaking skills, you will be able to positively contribute to a group. When you study with a group of other students, keep the following guidelines in mind: be prepared, focus on the issue, listen actively, show respect, state your ideas clearly and concisely, respond constructively to the ideas of others, and encourage everyone to participate. You can also use these guidelines while participating in interviews.