LISTENING BARRIERS
The most frequently reported listening barriers among students are listening primarily for details or facts; becoming distracted by noise; daydreaming or becoming preoccupied with something else while listening; thinking of another topic or detouring because of what the speaker has said; and lack of interest in the speaker’s subject (Golen, 1990).
The top three reported listening barriers for business students were identified as 1)Personal disinterest in the topic, 2)Personal and internal distractions, such as hunger, headache, or preoccupation with something else, and 3)Inattentiveness such as daydreaming. The top three reported listening barriers for business practitioners were identified as 1)Environmental distractions such as phones ringing and other people talking, 2) Personal and internal distractions, such as hunger, headache, or preoccupation with something else, and 3)Rebuttal tendency – developing a counter argument while the speaker is still speaking (Watson & Smeltzer, 1984).