Page 145 - Between One and Many The Art and Science of Public Speaking

112 Part 2 Between Audience and Speaker

© 1982 The New Yorker Collection. Jack Ziegler from cartoonbank.com. All rights reserved.

they have heard what’s being said before or because they dismiss the credibility
of the speaker before hearing the speaker out.
“I Can Read, So I Can Listen.” Although reading and listening skills might
seem to be correlated, that is not the case. In fact, the skills required are quite
different. The reader controls the pace of communication, whereas a listener
is at the mercy of the person speaking. A reader can reread a confusing pas-
sage, whereas a listener may have only one chance to get the point. Reading is
typically a solitary activity; listening most often takes place in groups, where
it might be hard to hear the speaker or there might be distractions. Listening
skills, as you can begin to see, require development in their own right.

“There’s No Need to Plan Ahead.” A fourth common misconception is that
listening just happens—that there’s no need to plan for it. Of course, sometimes you
will end up listening to an unexpected conversation. But if you know in advance
that you will be in a listening situation such as the one you face in your speech class,
you should plan ahead. For example, in most introductory speech courses, students
provide each other with both oral and written feedback. Who do you think will do
a better job: the student who prepares in advance, including a review of criteria
for the speech, checklists for speech evaluation, and a clear understanding of the
speech assignment, or the one who shows up to class only to be surprised by the
fact that he or she will be responsible for providing classmates with feedback about
their speeches? Finally, when the tables are turned, whose speeches do you think

most likely will benefit from critical evaluation by classmates?

Physical Conditions

The physical environment clearly affects our ability to listen and can be an obsta-
cle too. Among the factors that can inhibit listening are noise, an unpleasant room
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temperature, poor lighting, physical obstacles, and uncomfortable chairs. A noisy,
hot, poorly lit room, with uncomfortable chairs and a post blocking your view, is
hardly an ideal listening environment. On the other hand, a quiet, well-lit room