Communication Amidst Noise
00:03:30 Physical Noise
00:04:41 Physiological Noise
00:05:31 Semantic Noise
00:06:56 Psychological Nois
00:09:14 Overcoming Noise
00:10:15 Understand the Noise and How It’s Impacting You
00:13:16 Plan Ahead and Minimize Obstacles
00:15:11 Takeaways
Mindful Listening: How To Be Present, Intentional, and Empathetic (How to be More Likable and Charismatic Book 35) By Patrick King
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CX1F3HFX
In this video, we dive into the art of mindful listening as discussed in the book "Mindful Listening: How To Be Present, Intentional, and Empathetic." We'll explore various types of noise that hinder effective communication: physical noise, physiological noise, semantic noise, and psychological noise. By understanding these distractions and how they impact us, we can learn to identify them, plan ahead, and minimize their obstacles in our daily conversations. Improve your listening skills and deepen relationships through empathetic perspective.
**Tags:**
#MindfulListening #CommunicationSkills #EmpathicListening #Relationships #OvercomingNoise #ListeningTips #PatrickKing
Transcript
Are you tired of your conversations being derailed due to misunderstandings and conflicts?
Speaker:Maybe there's just too much noise.
Speaker:Hello, listeners.
Speaker:This is the Social Skills Coaching Podcast.
Speaker:Join us as we explore ways to become more likable, more charismatic, and more productive.
Speaker:Today's featured book is Mindful Listening by Patrick King, How to Be Present, Intentional, and Empathetic.
Speaker:This is one of the books in the How to Be More Likeable and Charismatic Book series, all written, of course, by Patrick King.
Speaker:Our episode today is entitled, Navigating Effective Communication Amidst Noise.
Speaker:This is from Chapter 2 of the book.
Speaker:Everyone has experienced at some point the difficulty of having a conversation when there's too much physical noise in the environment.
Speaker:Maybe traffic, construction, or maybe my background music was too loud and you couldn't get the text.
Speaker:But in addition to that, there are other types of noise, sometimes caused by physiological or biological discomforts and impediments, things like tiredness, hunger, pain, or other physical hindrances that make it difficult to focus.
Speaker:And a third cause of noise that we'll look at today would be semantic difficulties, misunderstandings that arise from either a lack of clarity or understanding around certain words or symbols when we communicate.
Speaker:And lastly, we will look at psychological emotional overwhelm.
Speaker:That is, when our emotions are too strong, making it hard to listen and engage in a meaningful dialogue.
Speaker:So, noise is not just physical noise.
Speaker:Let's look at each of these sources.
Speaker:We'll talk about them in detail, how to identify them, how to cope with them, and how to overcome them.
Speaker:And don't forget, if you need a refresher covering the main topics, check out the show notes for the timestamp of the takeaway at the end of the episode.
Speaker:Thanks for being here today.
Speaker:So, what are we doing when we listen?
Speaker:We’re setting the scene, we’re preparing ourselves, and we’re opening a little space into which a conversation—a genuine conversation—can happen.
Speaker:While that sounds so easy on paper, why does it so often go wrong?
Speaker:In this chapter we’ll look at the most common obstacles to quality listening so that you can ensure you’re not being derailed by them.
Speaker:We can fail to truly listen when we are too occupied with our own thoughts and feelings, or when we are not open and receptive enough to other peoples’.
Speaker:But there’s another common pitfall to listening that is not acknowledged as often, and it’s a simple one .
Speaker:.
Speaker:.
Speaker:NOISE!
Speaker:Richard West and Lynn Turner are so interested in the phenomenon of noise in conversations that they’ve identified four different types in their 2010 book on interpersonal communication.
Speaker:Physical Noise
Speaker:Physical noise includes all the external sounds that create interference in the communication process.
Speaker:Picture a scenario where two colleagues are trying to discuss an important project in a bustling restaurant during peak time.
Speaker:The background noise of chatter, clinking cups, and the clatter of cooking in the kitchen may all create significant physical noise, making it challenging for the colleagues to hear each other clearly.
Speaker:Add to this the beeping of a phone or the distant hum of construction work outside and you start to appreciate just how much this obvious type of noise can disrupt effective communication.
Speaker:Importantly, the noise doesn’t have to be deafening or literally drown out the other person’s voice to be disruptive.
Speaker:Any noise makes a small demand on our attention, and we only have so much bandwidth to process all these different stimuli.
Speaker:The more that goes to random sounds in the environment, the less we have available for the person talking in front of us.
Speaker:Physiological Noise
Speaker:Physiological noise pertains to biological factors that hinder the transmission or reception of messages.
Speaker:Consider an individual with a severe cold attempting to explain a complex idea.
Speaker:The congestion and discomfort associated with the illness become physiological noise, impeding the clarity of their speech and potentially causing the listener to miss key points.
Speaker:Similarly, someone with articulation problems, such as a stutter, faces challenges in expressing themselves clearly, introducing physiological noise that affects the communication exchange.
Speaker:Semantic Noise
Speaker:Semantic noise arises from difficulties in understanding the meaning of words or symbols in communication.
Speaker:You may have trouble “hearing” the meaning of a sentence due to the jumble of unnecessary verbal clutter in the way!
Speaker:In a professional setting, the use of industry-specific jargon without explanation can create semantic noise, as can excessive politeness, verbosity, or avoidant/circuitous language.
Speaker:For instance, a software developer discussing intricate coding techniques with a marketing professional may encounter semantic noise if the technical terms used are unfamiliar to the nontechnical audience.
Speaker:Furthermore, improper grammar or ambiguous language can contribute to semantic noise, hindering the accurate interpretation of the intended message.
Speaker:For example, the sentence “I’m sure nobody here would ever disagree with the fact that you can’t not say yes to the proposal you’ve just made” is one that actually interferes with a person’s ability to comprehend its meaning!
Speaker:Psychological Noise
Speaker:Psychological noise involves mental and emotional factors that disrupt effective communication.
Speaker:Imagine a heated discussion about a controversial topic where strong emotions such as anger or fear are present.
Speaker:These emotions act as psychological noise, clouding individuals’ judgment and making it difficult for them to objectively comprehend the viewpoints of others.
Speaker:People may be primed to interpret neutral or confusing stimuli in particular ways, to fail to recognize information that doesn’t align with their pre-existing expectations, or to simply have a hard time reconciling the message with their perception of the person delivering the message.
Speaker:Personal biases, whether conscious or unconscious, can introduce psychological noise by influencing how information is perceived, leading to misunderstandings and barriers in communication—especially those that feed off and amplify one another.
Speaker:Naturally, you can imagine a situation where all four of these kinds of noise are operating at once.
Speaker:A common issue can occur when people realize that the other person is not in fact listening to them—but they jump to conclusions about why.
Speaker:They may wrongly assume, for example, that the person is uninterested or being deliberately difficult.
Speaker:People with hearing difficulties can sometimes find themselves creating subtle feelings of irritation and hostility for precisely this reason—it’s difficult for people to be repeatedly asked “What!
Speaker:?” without it beginning to feel like they themselves are not “heard” on a psychological level, that they are unintelligible, difficult to understand, or obscure.
Speaker:Our message may be unheard for many reasons—but it seems human to immediately take things personally or assume malice.
Speaker:Overcoming Noise
Speaker:Identify the Type of Noise
Speaker:Just as there are many types of silence, there are many types of noise.
Speaker:Which one are you dealing with?
Speaker:We will be discussing misunderstandings of all types throughout this book, but it’s often the case that a conflict or misunderstanding stems from a simple difficulty right at the beginning of communication—i.e., you literally cannot hear one another over the noise.
Speaker:If communication is difficult, empathy is lacking, or you’ve got a conflict on your hands, start by figuring out what is causing the disruption.
Speaker:Whatever you do, don’t automatically assume malice or disinterest on their part.
Speaker:Once you know where the noise is coming from and what kind of noise it is, you can begin to deal with it productively.
Speaker:Understand the Noise and How It’s Impacting You
Speaker:Obviously, your goal is to remove the noise so you can get to the important work of really connecting to the other person and what they’re sharing.
Speaker:This will depend on the noise type.
Speaker:If there’s a physical noise in the environment, remove it or remove yourselves from the environment.
Speaker:If necessary, postpone your discussion for another time.
Speaker:For physiological noise, consider making accommodations for individuals with illnesses or speech impairments, or, again, wait till conditions are better.
Speaker:In the case of psychological noise, the most important thing is to be aware of emotional factors and biases.
Speaker:This kind of noise does its damage primarily because people are unaware it’s there in the first place.
Speaker:Empathy and compassion are important, but even before that, you need to actually know what to be empathetic and compassionate about.
Speaker:See if you can identify and remove the more obvious things getting in the way of genuinely encountering the other person, and them encountering you.
Speaker:If there is too much of a language or understanding barrier, you may need to do a lot of groundwork to agree on some shared definitions, goals, and understandings first.
Speaker:If there is fear, suspicion, pre-existing upset, or blame, your first task is to clear this up.
Speaker:This can prove extremely difficult because the way you clear it up may entail more communication—which is challenging because everyone is emotional and defensive!
Speaker:A time-out can work wonders, as can a neutral third party to act as a moderator.
Speaker:Having said all this, the barrier may lie more squarely with you.
Speaker:It takes an enormous amount of maturity to recognize and take ownership of the fact that you are undermining communication, but if you can do so, you may be amazed at how much trust and rapport it inspires in the other person.
Speaker:It often only takes one party to “lay down their weapons” and express a sincere desire to connect, to inspire the other party to do the same.
Speaker:Whether you have the tiniest misunderstanding or a serious feud or dispute, the principles are the same.
Speaker:Again, it’s as though you are clearing a space for healthy connection to happen.
Speaker:Trying to communicate when there’s any kind of noise is like trying to drive on a road that’s covered with fallen trees and rubble—i.e., liable to cause accidents!
Speaker:Plan Ahead and Minimize Obstacles
Speaker:As part of your preparation and “listening readiness,” be aware of potential sources of noise and plan ahead to reduce their impact.
Speaker:Note, however, that the best you can usually do is minimize these obstacles and seldom remove them entirely.
Speaker:Being proactive in this way will help you make the most of any interaction, but even if you’re not one hundred percent effective, your ability to demonstrate a collaborative and problem-solving approach is often enough on its own to inspire trust and rapport in the other person.
Speaker:In other words, the genuine intention and willingness to listen is often valuable even when it doesn’t entirely work!
Speaker:Before we move on, it’s worth considering an obstacle that’s almost certainly a part of your world: technology.
Speaker:Being aware of how your gadgets help or hinder your connection to others is a big aspect of being a good communicator.
Speaker:Think carefully about exactly how certain habits around media, social media, phones, etc.
Speaker:are influencing your ability to pay attention, and then take the necessary steps to remove that “noise.” For example, switch off or put away phones during conversations, make sure there are no distracting notification noises, or even suggest a face-to-face chat even though an email or message would be more convenient—when you think about it, considerable noises of all kinds can creep in when you are forced to communicate a delicate topic through text alone.
Speaker:Here are the main takeaways from today's episode.
Speaker:Noise can derail even the best laid conversational plans.
Speaker:There are four types of noise.
Speaker:Physical, environmental distractions.
Speaker:Physiological, biological discomfort and impediments.
Speaker:Semantic, difficulties understanding the meaning of words or symbols in communication.
Speaker:And psychological, emotional overwhelm.
Speaker:Carefully identify potential noise sources and proactively prepare to remove them before listening.
Speaker:And today we'll leave you with a quote from Ram Dass, a former Harvard psychologist who became a Hindu guru.
Speaker:Ram said, Your work is to discover your world and then, with great respect, leave it untouched.
Speaker:Don't go for results.
Speaker:Instead, go in quest of understanding.
