Listening

Catherine Schuetze
Interpersonal Com.
Video Reflection

We spend sixty percent of our communication listening, but we only retain about twenty five percent of that information, according to Julian Treasure from Ted Talk. In our loud world, we are losing our listening. Listening is defined as “the process of making sense of others spoken messages” (Adler and proctor, 2011).  This is the mental process of extraction, says Treasure. We choose what we want to hear. In such a loud society, it is hard to connect to the world. We need to listen consciously to truly live fully. Treasure shares five tips on how to become a better listener, a more conscious listener and how important listening really is.

We live to listen and listening is the access to understanding. The first tip that Treasure shares with us is silence, pure silence and if you are unable to access silence, find quiet. For three minutes a day, sit in silence. Reset your ears; give them a break from the loud world around. The next tip is to listen to how many different channels of sound you can hear. Whether that be in a coffee shop or a walk in the woods. Channel all the sounds around you. Learn how each sound you are listening to is different. For example, in a coffee shop, listen to the coffee grounds churning, the chatter from costumers, and the money jingling. Would you are doing is listening: “the brain reconstructs these electrochemical impulses into a representation of the original sound and then gives them meaning” (Alder and Proctor, 2011). You are not only listening, but retaining. The next tip is savoring: savior the noises around you. Find a rhythm in the sound your ears process. Sound can be really interesting when you pay attention. Treasure states, “The noises are a hidden choir, pay attention to them”. When you hear the car alarm going off, find the beat in that noise. The next tip given is listening positions. You can move your listening position to what’s appropriate to what you’re listening to. This idea is playing with those filters. Examples of this, are positions such as, active versus passive or critical versus empathetic. The final tip is an acronym RASA. Treasure defines RASA as “Receive, which means pay attentions to the person, Appreciate, making little noises like hmm, Summarize, the word “so” is very important in communication, and Ask, ask questions afterward”. These five tips are to guide us to consciously listen: understand the world around you. Don’t just listen, but retain and connect to what your ears are channeling. Listen to what the world is saying to you.