It's not a new thing anymore, because you know, I'll surely send an article every blessed day.
As promised yesterday, tonight, I'll be examining a topic which I titled:
EFFECTIVE LISTENING AND NOTE-TAKING METHODS
This article isn't restricted to students alone. Except you are deaf and dumb, then you are exempted. Everybody listens but not in the right approach, and I believe this article will give you a good orientation and enhance your listening skill.
Listening is a process by which sounds emitted by some sources are received by a listener, interpreted and acted upon. Listening is the ability to accurately receive and interpret messages in the communication process.
Listening is key to all effective communication. Without the ability to listen effectively, messages are easily misunderstood, there would be communication break down and the sender of the message would be frustrated or disappointed.
In the Bible days, Noah must have been an effective listener who got all the details God gave him concerning the ark of safety he was asked to build. He did a perfect job. In the same vein, Joshua listened to and heard all that he was told concerning the pulling down of the walls of Jericho.
Listening is so important that today, many top employers provide listening skills training for their employees. Listening requires focus, it means paying attention not only to the story, but how it is told, the use of language and voice. Ability to listen effectively depends on the degree to which one perceives and understands both verbal and non-verbal messages.
On the other hand, when we listens, there is need for note-taking, which refers to notes taken from listening to a lecture or talk. The ability to take good notes is an important skill that a everybody will need in all aspects of his or her studies. It is an essential part of studying because it actively involves the student in the learning process and therefore helps him to concentrate better.
Note taking involves listening to lecture or seminar, etc. analyzing and grasping the overall structure of the instruction being listened to. Moreover, the listener painstakingly sieves out main ideas or important details of the lecture into his note, which he uses at a later time to bring the content vividly back to mind. Luke the physician who wrote the Luke's gospel gave a detailed account of all he heard and saw.
Take a look at this:
1. Principles of Effective Listening
Listening is a complex activity and effective listening takes effort. It requires maximum thinking power. Effective listening does not just happen; it takes thought- and thinking can be hard work. There are some principles that must be followed for one to be an effective listener.
These are:
+ Stop talking and listen when somebody else is talking.
+ Listen to what they are saying, do not interrupt, talk over them or finish their sentences for them.
+ Just listen.
+ Prepare yourself to listen - relax, focus on the speaker, put other things out of mind and concentrate on the messages that are being communicated.
+ Put the speaker at ease - help the speaker to feel free to speak. Maintain eye contact but don't stare - show you are listening and understanding what is being said.
+ Remove Distractions - Focus on what is being said, don't doodle, shuffle papers, look out the window, pick your fingernails, etc. avoid unnecessary interruptions. These behaviours disrupt the listening process and send messages to the speaker that you are distracted.
+ Empathize - Try to understand the other person's point of view. Have an open mind so you can fully empathize with the speaker. If the speaker says something that you disagree with, keep an open mind to his views and opinions.
+ Be Patient - Be Patient and let the speaker continue in their own time. Never interrupt or finish a sentence for someone.
+ Avoid Personal Prejudice – try to be impartial. Don't become irritated and don't let the person's habits or mannerisms distract you from what the speaker is saying. Focus on what is being said and try to ignore styles of delivery.
+ Listen to the tone - volume and tone both add to what someone is saying. A good speaker will use both volume and time to their advantage to keep an audience attentive.
+ Listen for ideas - not just words. You need to get the whole picture, not just isolated bits and pieces. One of the most difficult aspects of listening is the ability to link together pieces of information to reveal the ideas of others.
+ Establish eye contact with the speaker - Studies show that the eye contact you have with the speaker help you to listen better.
+ Don't tune out "dry" subjects - Whenever you are tempted to tune out" something because you think it will be boring or useless, remember that you cannot evaluate the importance of the message until you have heard it.
+ Wait and watch for non-verbal communication. Gestures, facial expressions and eye-movement are all important. Watch and pick up the additional information being transmitted via non-verbal communication.
+ Exercise your listening muscles – listening takes practice. Be exposed to challenging material and difficult listening situations which will stretch your ability and build your listening muscles.
+ Follow the Golden Rule. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Be the kind of listener you want others to be when you are talking. That is how to be an effective listener.
Another point is:
2. Practice and Methods of Effective Note-taking
The practice of effective note-taking involves the following:
+ Maintain a written record. Set down a written record for each of your classes. This is important as study shows that forgetting begins almost immediately.
+ Sit where you will be seen. There is a common saying that the farther away a student sits in the class, the lower the grade.
+ Read in advance. To be a good note taker, read ahead after class especially the assigned reading.
+ Make systematic note. Do systematic note taking so that you can effectively and efficiently review for the examination.
+ Be alert for signals of importance. Be alert to "signals" that the teacher/lecturer give to indicate that certain materials are important. This helps for later study and review.
+ Write down examples. Examples given by the teacher helps to understand complex, abstract forms and concepts.
+ Write down details that connect or explain. Students soon forget points when less attention is paid to some details.
+ Take note during discussions even to the end of the class so as not to miss important summaries and conclusion. Keywords and important details should be underlined and circled.
+ Lay out notes from a lecture in a clear and logical manner. This will help to recall the material more easily.
The use of abbreviations and symbols are necessary tools in note taking. It saves considerable time, which is particularly valuable in note-taking.
+ Review your note soon after the class when ideas are still fresh in your mind then ensure your notes are clearer as far as possible before forgetting sets in.
After considering the Practices of Note taking, there is need to kno or be aware of the methods and models of note –taking
There are so many different methods of note-taking. We shall consider a few of them.
+ Key word methodology – no attempt to write everything down. Only key ideas or main points are taken note of and are written down, circled or underlined as the effective listener focuses on the speaker
+ Skeleton prose- This is the most common form of note taking Notes are structured as a sequence of numbered points and paragraphs with heading and indentations, a little like an essay plan.
+ Cornel note taking method – a note taking method devised for Cornel University students in U.S.A and has been in use everywhere. It is useful for taking notes from lectures. It ensures active engagement with the materials and it aids recall. It can be very useful when it comes to preparing and revising for exams.
Process of Cornel note – taking method: The students get a large notebook rule off a section at the bottom of each page to create a 'summary' space. Then divide each page into two vertical columns; the left – hand column should be one third of the page wide and the right hand column two thirds. Label each left – hand column KEY Words/ QUESTIONS; each right – hand column 'NOTES' and each space at the bottom 'SUMMARY' record your notes as the lecture is on and read through your notes at end of lecture, summarize the main points in the space for summary, note the key words or ideas and formulate questions.
+ Spidergram and mind maps – These are note taking methods or means of presenting and connecting ideas in a diagram form. To create spidergram or mind map, start in the centre of a page with an idea or heading representing a main idea or central theme. Create branches out from the central idea. Each branch is to represent a sub–theme or topic and each sub–theme can be sub divided as required. You can draw diagrams, pictures, maps and graphs instead of describing the ideas in words.
Finally, the last points is:
3. Profits/Benefits of Effective Listening and Note-Taking
Good listening skills can lead to greater productivity with fewer mistakes, increased sharing of information that can lead to more creative and innovative work. Had Joshua not listened attentively to the instruction given and passed the same to the priests and the people, the walls of Jericho would not have fallen. Good and effective listening skills also have lots of benefits for us students.
Among these are improved self-esteem and confidence, higher grades at school and in academic work; and better health and general well-being. Studies have shown that, whereas speaking raises blood pressure, listening brings it down.
Note–taking provides students with an invaluable written record of important details of a lecture, with a written record one can easily recall or with materials that could have been forgotten.
Note taking affords students a permanent record for revisional purposes. It helps to show some relationship between different ideas from different sources. Taking notes during lectures is an essential part of studying because it involves students in the learning process and therefore helps them to concentrate much better.
Finally many successful leaders and entrepreneurs credit their success to effective listening skills. And most high scorers at school attributes some of their successes to their ability to take notes, read and master the notes in addition to other materials. These are skills that underpin all positive human relationship.
So, develop your listening and note-taking skills – they are the building blocks of success.
I am me, I am I, No one can be Me, I am:
Rauf Kazeem Isaac
(C) January, 2016
Sent from my BlackBerry wireless device from MTN
