McGraw-Hill Public Speaking

• Listening to speeches
• Improving your listening skills
• The Communication process
• Recognizing listening problems
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Poor concentration, indiscriminate listening, anticipating, and focusing on externals are all causes of listening problems.

Poor concentration results from distractions.  Competing sounds and sights can distract you.   Physical discomfort or worries can also interrupt your thoughts. Our brains process speech faster than the rate at which speakers talk.  The gap between speaking rate and processing rate is known as spare brain time or mental spare time. You might think that spare brain time would assist listening, but it does not.  Instead, it allows you time to become distracted.