What is listening barrier?

First, it should be noted that sometimes, people assume this phrase refers mainly to people who are deaf or hard-of-hearing. That, as it turns out, is not true. In public speaking, there are many barriers to listening that affect even those with perfect hearing, since hearing and listening are two very different things. And while it is important to be a good speaker, it is equally important to be a good listener. Thus, a listening barrier is anything that prevents audience members from being fully attentive to your speech. There are many possible examples.

I teach Public Speaking, and one listening barrier I notice is that people today are very distracted. They often cannot pay close attention to what the speaker is saying, without feeling the urge to check e-mail or send a text. They also seem to have very short attention spans, and it requires extra effort on the part of the speaker to engage this type of audience.

Another listening barrier is language: some speakers use language that is filled with jargon, or they use Words and examples the average person does not understand. I am not suggesting that you "dumb down" your talk, but by all means, adjust your presentation to the people in the room. You would give a different speech to an audience of professors than to an audience of students. in fact, rule number one in public speaking is "Know Your Audience." If you are speaking to a group of World War II veterans, it will probably be a listening barrier for them if all of your examples are derived from the past few years. Find sources from their era-- popular songs, newspaper reports, quotes from political leaders-- and the audience will much better understand the points you are making, especially when you want to equate those points to modern times.

And one other listening barrier is bias. Some audiences come to a talk with their mind already made up, and even though they are sitting there, they have decided you are wrong before you even begin. It can be very challenging to give a persuasive speech, since some people simply do not want to be persuaded and they may tune you out. Ethical listening requires the listener to give you a fair hearing, but that does not mean everyone will. In fairness, sometimes the speaker him or herself is biased, making it difficult for even the most tolerant listener to remain engaged with the talk.

And finally, yes there are people who have disabilities and it is a barrier to them if the room is noisy, poorly laid out (people in wheel chairs, for example, need to be able to see the speaker or see the visual illustrations; some rooms are laid out in such a way that there are obstructed sight-lines if a person is in a wheel-chair), or has inferior acoustics. It will certainly be a listening barrier if your talk is inaudible, so test out the room before you give your speech.