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First and foremost you should desire to
become a better listener than you are at present. The desire
from within will give you a determination that will ensure that
you follow whatever rules you set down for yourself.
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If you do two things at a time you will
not be able do either task properly, so if you want to listen,
do only that and stop talking. Talking will divert your
attention so reserve your comments for later.
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It is essential to look at the speaker.
This will help you focus on the topic being spoken about.
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Take a conscious decision to leave any
distracting feelings and emotions behind. Do not let them
distract you from active listening. There may be various other
activities in your life, but close your mind to all other
thoughts and focus your attention on what is being said in
class. When you do this, you will find yourself absorbing ideas
better.
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If playing with your pen or doodling is
a habit with you, train yourself to stay away from the habit
during classes.
Practice being attentive
Your attentiveness needs to be heightened when important points are being
made. It is possible that your level of attentiveness falls from
time to time. So devise a method to bring yourself back. Once you
are a bit familiar with the way a teacher speaks you can
automatically make out from certain key phrases and tone of voice
when important inferences are discussed. Once you are attuned to
these changes you can easily focus your attention on the subject
matter with a little practice. Analyze
your thoughts
As you listen to something being spoken, it is but natural that you
simultaneously form opinions regarding the same in your mind. However keep
a rein on your thoughts if they seem to be moving towards an argument. You
may even be right, but clouding your thought processes with counter
arguments will be a deterrent to your absorption of what is being said.
You are entitled to your opinion but wait and listen in an unbiased manner
to what the other has to say. Two other pitfalls that block effective
listening are jumping to conclusions and forming judgmental opinions in a
hurry. These will give you a bias that is likely to cloud your
understanding. And if in the process you do recognize and acknowledge an
existing bias or prejudice, try to be objective about it and shelve it for
a while. Later when you review whatever you listened to, you may compare
and contrast thoughts and arrive at your own conclusion. But if you do
this while in the process of listening you will not be listening but just
hearing.
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