{"id":167,"date":"2019-01-16T00:14:37","date_gmt":"2019-01-16T00:14:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-oneonta-communication\/chapter\/5-4-listenable-messages-and-effective-feedback\/"},"modified":"2019-01-16T00:14:37","modified_gmt":"2019-01-16T00:14:37","slug":"5-4-listenable-messages-and-effective-feedback","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-oneonta-communication\/chapter\/5-4-listenable-messages-and-effective-feedback\/","title":{"raw":"5.4 Listenable Messages and Effective Feedback","rendered":"5.4 Listenable Messages and Effective Feedback"},"content":{"raw":"\n
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Learning Objectives<\/h3>\n
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  1. List strategies for creating listenable messages.<\/li>\n
  2. Evaluate messages produced by others using competent feedback.<\/li>\n
  3. Discuss strategies for self-evaluation of communication.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n

    We should not forget that sending messages is an important part of the listening process. Although we often think of listening as the act of receiving messages, that passive view of listening overlooks the importance of message construction and feedback. In the following section, we will learn how speakers can facilitate listening by creating listenable messages and how listeners help continue the listening process through feedback for others and themselves.<\/p>\n

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    Creating Listenable Messages<\/h2>\n

    Some of the listening challenges we all face would be diminished if speakers created listenable messages. Listenable messages<\/a><\/span> are orally delivered messages that are tailored to be comprehended by a listener (Rubin, 1993). While most of our communication is in an \u201coral style,\u201d meaning spoken and intended to be heard, we sometimes create messages that are unnecessarily complex in ways that impede comprehension. Listenable messages can be contrasted with most written messages, which are meant to be read.<\/p>\n

    The way we visually process written communication is different from the way we process orally delivered and aurally received language. Aside from processing written and spoken messages differently, we also speak and write differently. This becomes a problem for listening when conventions of written language get transferred into oral messages. You may have witnessed or experienced this difficulty if you have ever tried or watched someone else try to orally deliver a message that was written to be read, not spoken. For example, when students in my classes try to deliver a direct quote from one of their research sources or speak verbatim a dictionary definition of a word, they inevitably have fluency hiccups in the form of unintended pauses or verbal trip-ups that interfere with their ability to deliver the content. These hiccups consequently make the message difficult for the audience to receive and comprehend.<\/p>\n

    This isn\u2019t typically a problem in everyday conversations, because when we speak impromptu we automatically speak in an oral style. We have a tendency, however, to stray from our natural oral style when delivering messages that we have prepared in advance\u2014like speeches. This is because we receive much more training in creating messages to be read than we do in creating messages to be spoken. We are usually just expected to pick up the oral style of communicating through observation and trial and error. Being able to compose and deliver messages in an oral style, as opposed to a written style, is a crucial skill to develop in order to be a successful public speaker. Since most people lack specific instruction in creating messages in an oral rather than written style, you should be prepared to process messages that aren\u2019t as listenable as you would like them to be. The strategies for becoming an active listener discussed earlier in this chapter will also help you mentally repair or restructure a message to make it more listenable. As a speaker, in order to adapt your message to a listening audience and to help facilitate the listening process, you can use the following strategies to create more listenable messages:<\/p>\n