Stay awake during class and focus on the speaker’s content; to achieve this, maintain eye contact with the lecturer. Take notes during lectures, but maintain eye contact to bring back the focus to the lecture. Don’t focus on delivery; give no attention to the instructor’s mannerisms like pacing or coughing. Focus on the key words to get the grasp of the main idea; this keeps you on the topic and helps you to concentrate. Be objective and open-minded while you listen; hear what the speaker says and not what you want to hear. Practice these strategies to improve your listening behavior.
Always pay attention to the speaker’s words. Don’t pretend interest in the subject. Forgo the temptation to daydream during class. Concentrate on the lecture. Eliminate barriers that counteract good listening habits; ignore external distractions such as a person reshuffling papers, the late arriving students or the falling books. Avoid losing focus on content due to internal distractions, such as worrying about an incomplete assignment or thinking about personal problems. Follow these strategies to fine-tune your listening skills.
After listening, process the information. Try to summarize the information and look for organizational patterns like causes and effects or listing of items. Find links among topics or details. Listen for transition words that are clues for specific portion of the lecture; listen to phrases such as "to summarize," "in addition," "finally," "a review of," "nevertheless" and "as a result of." Hear the speaker out; don’t jump to conclusions or stop listening because of an emotional response to a word or topic, or give up because you find the subject difficult. College class formats include lecture, discussions and group work; use these listening strategies to strengthen your listening skills for academic success.
Your rate of thought is higher than the lecturer’s rate of speech; follow active listening strategies to capitalize on your thought speed. Identify the purpose of the lecture. Try to predict what will come next. Ask mental questions as you listen. Identify the key points and try relating them to previous lectures to get clarity. Good listeners don’t hesitate to ask questions about things they don’t understand. Be an interactive listener; participate in the discussions by responding to the speaker’s questions. These strategies improve the active listening skills.