Listening: the Often Forgotten Ingredient

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Similar to the gourmet chefs who practice combining spices and other ingredients to make delectable cuisine, technical communicators practice mixing different forms of communication to develop comprehensive technical documentation. As technical communicators we are educated and experienced in using the necessary utensils of communication, such as researching, writing/editing, interviewing, and oral presentation.

However, most of us have never actually been trained in or consistently practiced one of the most important forms of communication. Neglecting to build or strengthen this power can profoundly affect our ability as communicators. And this form is an essential ingredient we often forget when developing and implementing our recipe for an appetizing document. This ingredient is listening. If listening isn't in the mix when developing documentation, then the project may not cook.

Listening is one of the most important yet most underused forms of communication. Although studies have indicated that 45 percent of our communication time per day is devoted to listening, it has been concluded by a University of Minnesota report that "in the business world nearly 60 percent to misunderstanding can be attributed to poor listening."¹ Obviously something is lacking in our listening skills.

Poor listening results from mental wandering, tuning out too soon, avoiding complex or incomprehensible material, emotional or biased reactions to information, or physical distractions. We can, however, improve our listening skills by becoming more aware of the importance of listening, how poor listening habits affect our communication ability, and the steps we need to take to start becoming better listeners.

Being a good listener requires effort, patience, concentration, and a sincere interest in or willingness to listen to others' knowledge, ideas and viewpoints. Listening to someone encourages and confirms their value as a communicator and a person with valuable knowledge to share.

Active listening is a critical part of effective interviewing and information gathering for documentation development. It is especially important for technical communicators to listen actively because the information we are exposed to is highly technical and often not easily understandable. When it is time to interview the technical experts, the following steps may serve as a recipe for mixing the listening ingredient into your project development.

1. Research the subject beforehand
   Research the subject of the interview beforehand so you have basic knowledge and are able to listen for important information and ask the right questions.
2. Limit distractions
   Keep distractions to a minimum by holding all telephone calls or interviewing in a quiet room.
3. Listen nonverbally
   It is important to use positive nonverbal communication, such as maintaining eye contact, nodding your head in understanding, and leaning forward in your chair to signal attentiveness.
4. Keep in mind your document reader
   Listen for concepts and ideas that will be important to the audience who will be reading your document.
5. Evaluate message content
   Listen for ideas and concepts rather than a string of facts.
6. Anticipate interviewee's key points
   Correctly anticipating the fundamental ideas can assure understanding ahead of time. If you don't correctly anticipate a concept, then be quick to inquire about the correct concept.
7. Mentally review or summarize the essence of communication
   Actively and consciously focus on what is being said. Mentally outline the information you have received. Avoid the temptation to think ahead about errands you need to accomplish after the interview.
8. Jot down key ideas and concepts
   Notetaking should be virtually inconspicuous so there is no interruption in communication.
9. Ask questions and summarize to confirm your understanding
   Verbally summarize key points to confirm your understanding of material and ask open-ended questions to uncover additional qualitative information.
10. Attend product engineering, marketing and quality control meetings
    Listen to coworkers' priorities, problems and ideas regarding the product you are documenting. Attending these meetings is often time well-spent because the information gathered may help you with the documentation development process.

Listening can be hard work but it has definite benefits. In twenty-five recent studies seeking to identify necessary employment skills, listening abilities were the most frequently mentioned skills.² Through effective listening we gain information, upgrade decision making, reduce the number of mistakes or repeat work, spend time more productively, avoid misunderstandings, share ideas, and improve working relationships.

Listening skills can be improved by being aware of the importance of listening, employing good listening techniques, and trying to prevent poor listening habits. Although not formally trained in effective listening techniques, we as communicators are responsible for mixing this important ingredient into our recipes for documentation development.

References

1 Montgomery, Robert Leo. 1981. Listening Mode Easy: How to Improve Listening on the Job, at Home, and in the Community. New York: AMACOM.

2 Bostrom, Robert N. 1990. Listening Behavior: Measurement and Application. New York: Guilford Press.