Faculty of Science and Engineering

Listening - in Lectures, Talks and Presentations

In Lectures:

Different lecturers have different styles which will require adapting different strategies to cope with, as discussed in ‘The Smarter Student’ (McMillan et al., 2006, pg 105-6) – it’s worth a read.

Warning!

Listening

It's tempting to write down everything that your lecturer is saying, but try to listen as much as possible and just note down key words and phrases.

  • Sit in a good place that enables you to hear the lecturer and be away from distractions.
  • Prepare yourself by doing the reading for the lecture beforehand.
  • Don’t be tempted to write down every word that the lecturer is saying, try to listen as much as possible.
  • If you want to ask a question, go for it! Lots of other people are probably thinking the same thing but no one likes to ask.

In presentations:

Ponder on some of these questions from ‘The Study Skills Handbook’ (Cottrell, 2003, p100):

  • Do you take in what other people say?
  • Do you give other people room to speak?
  • Do you let other people finish before you start?
  • Do you use encouraging non verbal signals?
  • Do you ‘switch off’ when bored or if you dislike the person?

 

Here are some top tips for better listening skills (Cottrell, 2003, p 100):

  • Consider the speaker’s feelings
  • Find ways of encouraging them
  • Focus on the content – think of some way this could be of value to you
  • Listen for key words and write them down
  • Think of a question you could ask (when they have finished speaking)
  • Link what they are saying with something you already know
  • Find one positive comment you could contribute