Communication skills

1. LG 104
COMMUNICATION SKILLS
TOPIC TWO – Listening Techniques &
Note Taking

2. Effective Listening and Note Taking Techniques
Meaning of Listening and its importance
• No matter how you communicate, listening is the most
important communication technique one needs to master.
• Listening is the physical reality of hearing what another
person says.
• This is an essential for good communication. It implies
active decoding, i.e. translating the symbols into meaning
and interpreting the verbal message correctly.
• Listening is a receptive skill (decoding). It is the receiver’s
activity in communication.
• Is essential skill for good communication.
• It involves concentration on what the other person is
saying.

3. The Difference between Listening and
Hearing
• Hearing:
• Is the process of collecting the sound waves
through the ears and sending them to the brain.
• It involves perceiving the sound.
• It is the physical component of listening.
• It is a passive and effortless activity which does
not involve understanding.
• Hearing is an act that happens automatically
when sounds reach your ear.

4. The Difference between Listening and
Hearing cont…
• Listening:
• listening is a course of action that involves
hearing and understanding what you hear.
• It involves hearing and listening with
understanding.
• It involves both body energy and mind in the
whole process.
• It requires both deliberate efforts and keen mind.
• It needs both physical and psychological efforts.

5. The Difference between Listening and
Hearing cont…
• Listening cont…:
• It does not necessarily mean to close your
mouth, but to concentrate on the speaker to
understand or feel like he/she feels.
• You cannot carry on a conversation if you
don’t listen to what another person is saying.
Restating what another person said shows
that you are listening effectively.

6. The Difference between Listening and Hearing cont…
• As explained earlier, listening is an act of actively
paying attention to and attempting to understand and
retain what you hear.
• You may hear a person saying I told you that I am sick,
but you did not listen to me. Such an expression is an
indication that listening requires more than hearing the
noise and, thus, it requires an understanding what
another is saying, sympathizing with another, giving a
quick feedback, acting upon the matter, etc.
• One may shortly say that listening is to put yourself
into the shoes of another. The following settings may
help to further understand what listening is:

7. The Difference between Listening and Hearing cont…
• A boss
• Giving a sick leave to an employee who request a permission because
he/she is sick; allowing an employee to attend his/her child who is sick;
accepting fair criticisms from subordinates; showing a smiling face,
nodding, and responding when a subordinate or another person is talking to
you
• A nurse
• Warmly responding to a sick person who is talking to you; giving
instructions to a patient who requested for the help; saying words like sorry,
you will get well soon; these medicines will help you, don’t worry, etc.
when talking to a patient
• A teacher
• Showing positive attitude to students asking questions; allowing students to
express their excuses and give them a fair judgment; meeting the
appointments you give to students, etc.

8. The Difference between Listening and Hearing
cont…
• A politician
• Giving another a chance to finish talking before you
interfere; avoiding abusive responses for criticisms;
accepting fair criticisms; giving honest answers for the
raised questions; sympathizing with others when in
difficulties; representing the people’s ideas or feeling
• A student
• Paying attention to understand the teacher/lecturer in
classroom; doing assignments; tolerating each other
differences in group discussion; responding to
teacher’s/lecturer’s questions, etc.

9. The Difference between Listening and
Hearing cont…
• Think of an employee’s attitude towards an organization or a boss
who does not listen when he/she falls sick; think of a teacher who is
teaching in the classroom where students are not listening; or a
nurse who does not listen to patients who complain for their
sickness.
• Indeed, if that is a private organization, the organization is likely to
lose customers; if it is in a group discussion or a teacher, you are
likely to lose friends and get all the bad names you know.
• We should be listening to people since listening is crucial for the
health of an organisation and for social capital.
• You are likely to cause psychological tortures to the speakers if you
are not a good listener; you are likely to lose your boyfriend or
girlfriend if you are not a good listener.

10. The Process of Listening
• a. Receiving: during listening one receives both verbal and nonverbal
messages, not only the words but also the gestures, facial expressions,
tone of voice, etc.
• b. Understanding: this involves learning what the speaker means. One put
into consideration both the thoughts that are expressed and emotional
tone that accompanies these thoughts. In this stage avoid premature
judgment until you understand message fully, you need to ask questions
etc.
• c. Remembering: simply mean retaining the massage that we receive and
understand. You can augment your memory by taking notes, tape
recording the message.
• d. Evaluating: refers to the judging of message or rather doing a critical
analysis. During evaluation insist until you fully understand the speaker’s
point of view.
• e. Responding: responses are feedback or information that one sends back
to the speaker. It tells the speaker how you feel and think about his or her
message.

11. Types of Listening
• 1. Active listening: this occurs when one
decide to participate fully in the conversation.
It involves investing mental and emotional
energy in the listening process.
• 2. Passive listening: this occurs by exercising
little or no energy in the listening process e.g.
listening with drifting mind. Passive listener
cannot expect to understand much about the
message.

12. Broad Types of Listening
• a) Attentive listening
• The main goal of attentive listening is to
understand and remember of what is heard.
Three attentive skills are, Attending skills,
Following skills and Reflecting questions.
• b) Critical listening
• The goal of listening critically is to evaluate,
assess or interpret the heard message. In contrast
to attentive listening, critical listening is related to
questioning.

13. Listening in Public Speeches
Factors for Good Listening
• A good listener could do the following:
• Start with a positive attitude. For instance you may say,
“I am going to concentrate and pay attention.”
• Avoid day dreaming by actively trying to listen,
understand, and remember what is being said.
• Don’t look around at your friends in class, out the
window, etc. Focus your eyes and ears on the speaker.
• Concentrate to what the speaker is saying. Stop talking,
it is not possible to listen while talking.
• Be attentive by paying attention to the key points, be
alert, and avoid any kind of noise/distraction.

14. Factors for Good Listening cont…
• Do not assume that you know what the speaker is
about to say (premature judgment about the
message).
• Do not ignore information considered necessary.
• Summarize the ideas of the speaker to avoid
misunderstanding of thoughts.
• Concentrate on the speaker kindly and
generously by making deliberate efforts to give
chance to the speaker to express his/her
thoughts or views.

15. Factors for Good Listening cont…
• Try to learn from the speaker, evaluate ideas in a
spare time, and focus on the content and not on
the speaker’s personality.
• Try to benefit from the opportunity arising from
the speaker.
• Block out any destruction like noise inside or
outside the classroom or any concerns or thoughts
you had earlier in the day.
• Put away anything that may destruct from your
attention to the speaker: magazines, homework,
schedules etc.

16. Factors for Good Listening cont…
• Put the speaker at ease: encourage the speaker to talk
comfortably.
• Show a desire to listen show by using nonverbal
features that you are interested to listen . Make eye
contact with the speaker.
• Be patient. Keep your temper under control since
angry persons cannot speak clearly and cannot listen.
• Listen between the lines, ask questions at suitable
moments to get a clear understanding.
• Keep an open mind, do not jump to conclusions. Avoid
making any judgements until the speaker has
completed speaking.

17. Factors for Good Listening cont…
• Keep a pen and paper handy in case you want
to take notes. Write down the main points and
check for their correctness
• Find out in advance what main topic will be
discussed to get what to focus on when
listening.
• Therefore, inattention to any of these
concerns would prevent hearing because they
may act as berries for effective listening.

18. Barriers to Effective Listening
• Effective listening requires the listener to
direct all the attention to the speaker
otherwise communication may be blocked.
• The factors which can hinder communication
are simply referred to as communication
barriers

19. Barriers to Effective Listening cont…
• The following are the barriers to effective
listening communication process:
• Mental distraction: trying to think of other things
than the lecturer or speaker’s talk.
• Lacking focus on the message: this occurs when
we bring into the communication setting our
feelings, values, and attitudes. Sometimes the
speaker may present a thought or word which
triggers a past experience. At that point we start
to think about the past experience and soon
forget the message being presented.

20. Barriers to Effective Listening cont…
• Prejudgment: this occurs when one think that
he/she knows what the speaker wants to say,
before she/he actually finishes to saying it. One
may interrupt the speaker or try to complete the
sentence for him.
• Filtering: it refers to the situation where by the
sender purposely manipulate information so it
will be seen more favourable to the receiver e.g.
when the subordinate tells his boss what he
thinks his boss wants to hear.

21. Barriers to Effective Listening cont…
• Information overload: this is seen when
information we want to work with, exceed our
processing capacity. This is evident since
individual have a finite capacity for processing
data.
• Trying to be helpful: trying to be helpful may
seem beneficial, but it becomes problematic
when the listener thinks about how to solve what
he perceives to be the speaker’s problem.
Consequently, he misses what the speaker is
actually saying.

22. Barriers to Effective Listening cont…
• Method of delivery: using a very unique
system or unusual method for delivering the
message.
• Mixed messages: body language or nonverbal
elements contradicting or interfering with the
verbal messages, such as smiling when anger
or hurt is expressed.

23. Barriers to Effective Listening cont…
• Daydreaming/pseudolistening: this occurs when one
thinks that the subject is not interesting enough or is
too difficult. This hinders listening since the listener
gets bored to the subject presented or topic under
discussion. So one become physically present in the
listening situation, but mentally far removed.
• Environmental Noise: this is seen when people walk or
talk outside the room in which you are trying to listen.
When people around you are talking, drooping items,
and any other destruction occurs during listening.
Again in a room that is too hot or too cold, one may
have trouble concentrating on the speaker.

24. Barriers to Effective Listening cont…
• Listener’s tendency to criticize the speaker.
• Emotional blocks: listener is carried away by
emotional fantasies and imaginations.
• Impatience.
• Poor health.
• Excessive note taking.
• Planning to present a good argument.
• Wandering attention: this is when the listener’s
mind is set away from the speaker’s talk.

25. Note Taking Skills
• Note taking is done by people who listen from lectures.
Also done from oral presentation and written sources.
Why do People/Students take Notes?
• They take notes for future study/revision while
preparing for tests and examinations.
• For writing in future time (essays, newspapers, radio
programming).
• They can be used for recording evidence such as to be
used in courts.
• They are valuable clues to what information the
teacher or speaker thinks, and are the key points in
understanding a subject.

26. Why do People/Students take Notes?
Cont…
• To assure ourselves the availability of the
material when we need them e.g. when you
go in library next time you don’t find the book.
• Notes simplify the process of studying
(sometimes books contain unnecessary issues
while notes have all important points for
revision.
• People/students take notes in order to be able
to teach others.

27. Why do People/Students take Notes?
Cont…
• They are useful on job for recording meetings
and seminars.
• Help to have a permanent written record of
main points & supplemantary details one may
refer to it latter.
• Taking notes helps one to focus and
concentrate in class or while listening to a
speaker on television, at conference hall or
lecture room/theater.

28. Note Taking Techniques
1. Organisation & Layout of Notes
• The format in which you make notes depends
on the subject and whether they are from
reading text or from a lecture. There are 3
forms:
• Outline notes
• Branching notes
• Tabulated notes

29. 1.1 Outline Form of Notes
• Notes from a lecture/book should reflect the way
in which the lecturer/author has organized his
information.
• Main section and subsection should be separated
in notes by:
• Numbering,
• Spacing,
• Capitalisation, and
• Indentation which can all be used to show
sections clearly.

30. Outline Form of Notes cont…
• You must distinguish between main and
subsidiary ideas, and also indicate relationship
between them.
These are shown by:
• i. Arabic numerals: 1.2.3.4.5… (it can be used with
decimals)
• ii. Roman numerals: I, II, III, IV, V…
• iii. Letters A, B, C, D, E…
• Note: number (ii &iii) can either be used in
upper/lower cases.

31. Outline Form of Notes cont…
• The following is a sample of how outline notes can be made:
• I. Main Idea
• A. Subsidiary idea to I
• B. Subsidiary idea to I
• 1. Subsidiary idea to B
• 2. Subsidiary idea to B
• a) Subsidiary idea to 2
• b) Subsidiary idea to 2
• II. Main Idea
• A. Subsidiary idea to II
• B. Subsidiary idea to II
• C. Subsidiary idea to II

32. Outline Form of Notes cont…
• Major Aspects of Aids
• I. Transmission of AIDS
• A. Transfusions
• B. Body fluids
• 1. Sexual
• 2. Non-sexual
• II. Societal Consequences of AIDS
• A. Epidemic disease pattern
• 1. Teenagers
• 2. Women
• 3. Homosexuals
B. AIDS babies
• C. Overburdened health care
• D. Increased homophobia
•
• III. Research solution to AIDS
• A. HIV virus
• B. Other viruses

33. 1.2 Branching Notes
• This type is not common but equally useful. It
enables to see the ideas very clearly.

34. 1.3 Tabulated Notes
• These are notes summarised using tables. It is
useful in note taking because it is capable of
carrying much information in few words. It is also
easier, using tables, to show the relationship
between the main points and the subordinate
points using columns & raws.
• Tabulated notes are very useful in writing
summaries of reports where opinions are
solicited for such reports. There is no need for
indentation and numbering.

35. 1.3 Tabulated Notes cont…
• E.g.Tabulated Notes

36. 2. Taking Notes from Reading Texts
• Before taking notes from the text survey the
relevance of the text first if it suits your
purpose of study. Once you get a relevant
section for your study please do the following:
• Look at the headings, sub-headings of the
chapters of the text; and check the beginnings
and ends of paragraphs to get a general idea
of the chapter or paragraph.

37. Taking Notes from Reading Texts cont…
• Look for important ideas only. Some prefer to earmark
important points by underlining or highlighting (but
this is not allowed with public properties). Don’t
scribble or mark on the textbook.
• Make summaries of source materials rather than direct
quotations.
• Leave spaces between points for further comments,
examples and citations.
• Highlight key words in order to expand them with
definitions and illustrations later.
• In the summaries you take please retain the original
structure of the text.

38. Taking Notes from Reading Texts cont…
• In any note taking please record the following:
the name of the author; the year of
publication; the title of the article, book, or
journal; the vol. & issue no. (in the case of a
journal); the name of the publisher; the place
of publication; the pages where your notes
come from (in the case articles in journals or
chapters in books).

39. 3. Taking Notes from the Lectures
• Note taking skills Before Class
• 1.Develop a mindset which is geared towards listening.
• 2.Go over the materials of the previous lecture while
waiting for the next lecture to begin.
• 3. Preview the assigned readings to establish some
background knowledge.
• 4. Determine what you know and what you do not
know about the material in order to focus your
listening or learning.
• 5.Skim relevant reading assignments to acquaint you
with the main ideas, new technical terms etc.

40. Note taking skills Before Class cont..
• 6. Do what you can to improve your physical
and mental alertness (tiredness, hunger,
sleepiness, the place where you sit in the
classroom, can affect motivation and
attention).
• 7.Choose note books that will enhance your
systematic note – taking; have a separate note
book with full sized pages for each course.
• 8. Develop the positive intention to listen.

41. Strategies of Note taking in lectures and
Seminars during Class Session
• Arrive on time
• Sit where you can see and hear the speaker
easily
• Make sure you are an active listener
• Concentrate on what the speaker is saying
• Develop a flexible note-taking strategy
• Review your notes after the lecture
• Use abbreviations when necessary

42. Strategies of Note taking in lectures
and seminars during Class cont…
• Ask yourself: what questions does this lecture answer?
• Use symbols (where necessary or important) e.g.= equals, >
more, % percentage.
• Organize your notes as a way to review and get prepared for
exams.
• Write the notes in your own words, but if you cannot don’t let
it take away your attention from the lecture.
• Ask questions if you don’t understand: The lecturer/presenter
may give time for questions at the end of the class.
Otherwise, approach the lecturer or presenter after the class.

43. Identifying Main Ideas & Major
Details
• During the process of listening from a lecture/talk
the following issues should be taken into
consideration so as capture the intent of the
lecture or speech:
• The first thing to do while you are in a lecture
room is to write the lecture topic, followed by the
name of the lecturer, and date of the lecture.
• During the delivery of the lecture, you need to
identify important points by paying attention to
the speaker/instructor where he/she emphasizes
points by:

44. Identifying Main Ideas & Major
Details cont…
• Drawing attention to important points by saying
that they are important.
• Saying what needs to be remembered in each
point.
• Citing/showing examples or facts relating to each
point.
• Using clues such as, remember…, most of all…,
implicitly…, to sum up…,
• What is written on the chalk board.

45. Identifying Main Ideas & Major
Details cont…
• Does he/she repeats idea/phrase/point
several/number of times or emphasing its
importance by his/her tone of voice/by
gestures/other non-verbal features.
• Variation of voice (rising the pitch, speaking
loudly, reducing the speed) at an important point,
or by using other paralanguage features.
• Using transitional markers by saying for instance:
the 1st point, the 2nd argument, the next.

46. 3.1 Expressions Used in a Lecture
• There are number of expressions lecturers or
other speakers use to signal various things in a
lecture/talk. As a student/listener you should
be able to recognize the things speakers
do/signify/mean/when using these
expressions. Some of these language
expressions and things they signal are:

47. Expressions Used in a Lecture cont…
• a) Introducing the topic:
• “The topic of this lecture is about/states…”
• “Today’s talk/discussion/lecture topic is about... ”
• “My presentation is concerned with…”
• b) Indicating the structure of the talk/presentation:
• “I intend to divide the talk into… ”
• “This presentation is divided into… ”
• c) Starting the talk/presentation:
• “Let’s look first of all at…”
• “I shall begin/start by looking at… ”
• “I would like to start by… ”

48. Expressions Used in a Lecture cont…
• d) Moving to a new section:
• “Let’s turn our attention to… ”
• “Now we can move on to the next section… ”
• “Turning now to… ”
• “Next thing to consider is… ”
• e) Adding a new point:
• “Further more…”
• “In addition to what we saw/heard…”
• “Another point we should look at/or consider…”

49. Expressions Used in a Lecture cont…
• f) Clarifying a point:
• “What I mean by this is…”
• “That is to say…”
• “In other words…”
• “To put it more clearly…”
• g) Illustrating a point/giving examples:
• “Let’s take the example of…”
• “Let me give an example…”
• “Let me illustrate with an example…”

50. Expressions Used in a Lecture cont…
• h) Stressing a point:
• “Let me remind you the factors I have mentioned…”
• “Let me just repeat that…”
• “Just to go over that again…”
• i) Drawing conclusions:
• “So we can see that…”
• “Therefore, we can come to a conclusion that…”
• “So, from these examples/results we can say that…”

51. Expressions Used in a Lecture cont…
• j) Giving personal opinion:
• “In my opinion then…”
• “I think that…”
• “In my view…”
• k) Concluding a lecture/talk:
• “To sum up then…”
• “To finish then…”
• “I will conclude by…”
• “I will finish then by…”

52. 3.2 Coping with the Lecturer’s Speed
• Other speakers are too fast when they speak, to
the extent that one may not catch up with the
speed or following accurately the lecture.
• So the following principles may guide a listener so
as not to be left behind:
• Familiarizing with brevity. Write your notes briefly
but clearly.
• Write only the main points, differentiate between
main and minor points. Don’t write everything.

53. Principles guiding the listener cont…
• Organize your points in an outline forms rather
than writing in a continuous form. Put your notes
in skeleton form.
• Balance your time to listen to the lecture and
take notes.
• Leave out all words considered
redundant/unimportant for grasping intended
meaning and grammatical words, for example, is,
was, the, would, that…
• Avoid using longer expressions where shorter
ones can do.

54. 3.2.1 How to Shorten your Sentences
• Use abbreviation: for instance;
• cf - compare;
• Nb- Nota Bene;
• P.a - Per annum;
• viz – namely;
• vs – against;
• i.e. – that is.

55. How to Shorten your Sentences cont…
• Use symbols and signs: For example,
• The symbol = means the same, equals.
• +/& - means plus, and, in addition to.
• Use of figures instead of words: For example, 2200, 1567,
• Omit unnecessary words: For example,
• E.A, E.U, U.N,
• Combine related ideas or points into shorter sentences: For
example:
• The President of Tanzania, Dr. Joseph John Pombe Magufuli
visited the university of Dodoma and had a chance to
address the students and staff.

56. 4. Note taking skills After Class
• Clear up any questions or doubts raised by the
lecture by asking either the teacher or
classmates.
• Fill in missing points or misunderstood term from
text or other sources.
• Edit your notes: Label main points, add questions
to be answered. Highlight key points in the notes
with different colours of ink.
• Think over what you have learnt; make separate
notes of your ideas and reflections

57. Note taking skills After Class cont...
• Recognizing the main ideas.
• Identifying what information is relevant to your
task.
• Having a system of note taking that works for
you.
• Reducing the information to note and diagram
format.
• Where possible, putting the information in your
own words.
• Recording the source of the information.