20 ways to Improve your Listening Skill

 

 

1.  Maintain eye contact - When you listen to someone it is important to maintain eye contact. 

 

2.   Use a notebook - This will help you to be active during the listening process plus you will have the ideas recorded which can be retrieved later. You can also use an audio recorder. It is always good to check with the speaker or the organizers before you do the digital recording. 

 

 

3.   Ask questions to the speaker - This will demonstrate the fact that you were attentive during the session. You can also exercise your critical thinking skills by asking some probing questions. 

 

 

4.     Ask questions to yourself - This will help you to improve your critical thinking skills. You can also assimilate the ideas that you have listened to which will make you more grounded in the topic. 

 

 

5.   Research:   Read or do research beforehand about the event, speaker or the class or the lesson - This is part of the pre-listening activity. 

 

6.     Don’t talk to your friends or use your mobile.  This will help you to focus totally on the listening activity with minimal or zero distraction. 

 

 

7.    Occupy the front seats - This will help you to get a better view of the proceedings.  It will also help you to clear all distractions between you and the speaker. 

 

 

8.   Get proper rest:  You should not attend the lecture or the event in a tired manner. You cannot doze off while listening. 

 

 

9.     Listen without judging or jumping to conclusions - Don’t make any subjective evaluation of the speaker or the topics he is presenting. You focus should be on the lecture not the lecturer. 

 

 

10.  Don't interrupt - Wait for the lecture or the speech to get over. You should never interrupt the speaker in between. Wait for the question & answer session to ask your questions. If there is no Q and A session, then you can approach the speaker after the presentation to ask your questions. 

 

11.  Acknowledge: Using brief responses like “I see,” “I know,” “Sure,” “Thank you,” or “I understand” is a good way to acknowledge that you are actively listening to the speaker. Even a simple nod of your head is a good method to acknowledge the speaker. This acknowledgement is important in face to face communication or interpersonal communication. 

 

12.  Remembering - It is always good to recollect the ideas presented in the event or the speech. This will help you to consolidate your knowledge. The notes that you have jotted down in your notebook will help you in this act of remembering. 

 

 

13.  Respect the speaker. If you don’t like the speaker. You can leave the venue or the class. You should not be the reason for the event to become a failure. If you do not see any purpose or aim in listening to the speaker, then you might as well leave the venue. 

 

14.  Listen to audiobooks - This is an excellent way to improve your listening skill. Audible and Storytel are the two popular audiobook companies in India. Like shadow speaking, you can also experiment with shadow listening. If you can grab a copy of the book and read along as you listen to the audiobook, it will be an interesting activity. 

 

 

15.  Radio news - The good old radio is still a useful tool for improving your listening skill. You can tune in to the English news in All India Radio or the BBC. You can also listen to the news bulletins in your own mother tongue. 

 

 

16.  Podcasts - They are very popular these days and there are thousands of podcasts to choose from. You can always select the ones you need based on the subjects or topics. 

 

17.  Listen to English songs - Always try to listen to songs with some nice and decent lyrics - There are many English songs which have wonderful and inspiring lyrics. It is always good to choose slow numbers. Listening to these songs will help you to get into the rhythm of the language and improve your pronunciation.

 

 

18.  Watching movies - Try watching English movies without subtitles. This will help you to grasp the language faster and at the same time enjoy the content of the movie. 

 

19.  Listen to yourself - Record short audio - You can use your phone or laptop to record your own voice and check for voice clarity and other details regarding your voice. You can also forward the audio clip to an expert and ask for his feedback and advise.  

 

 

20.  Listen to great orators. There are many great speeches delivered by great men and women. Most of them are available on YouTube. You can listen to these speeches to feel inspired and to improve your speaking style. 

Topic 1 - Bridge Course - 20 TIPS TO IMPROVE YOUR SPEAKING AND PRESENTATION SKILLS

Hello everyone, this is Premjith Mathew and today I would like to share 20 tips to improve your speaking and presentation skills. 

 

1.    Rehearse before you speak: It is always good to do a mock or dummy speaking session before the actual one. This will give you more confidence and will make you more familiar with the topic you have in your hand. 

 

2.     Use the mirror: One place where you can practice speaking is in front of the mirror. You can ask a friend of yours to observe and listen to your speech. You can also ask your friend to give feedback about the presentation. Make sure you select a friend whom you think can help you. 

 

3.     Learn new words every day: This will help you to have linguistic confidence. You should make reading a daily habit. Read books, magazines, and newspapers. The reading can be just in any language that you know. Reading is a meditative process. New words can also be gathered from watching English news channels like BBC and listening to the English news in All India Radio. You can also listen to podcasts. 

 

4.     Engage in self-talk - One way to improve your speaking is to talk to yourself in English. Please make sure that you are also alone when you are talking to yourself. 

 

5.    Friends with linguistic benefits: Try to find friends with whom you can talk in English. You can also be part of a WhatsApp group where English is the medium of communication. 

 

6.  Read Aloud: Reading the text in a loud manner will help you to improve your pronunciation and help you to develop a unique style of speaking. 

 

7.  Brainstorm your ideas: To collect the best ideas possible, it is always good to do a search within your mind. I always believe that the original and genuine ideas are found inside your mind. Before searching outside, it is always good to look within. 

 

8.     The Use of Body Language: The most powerful form of body language is the contact that you make with your audience using your eyes. Along with the powerful eye-contact, you should use gestures and postures to enhance the presentation. 

 

9.     Be confident: Your speech should reflect the level of confidence within you. You will display more confidence when you are fully prepared, and you have a grip over the subject matter. 

 

10.  Have a positive attitude: It is vital for you to develop a positive happy frame of mind when you speak. Your utterances should be filled with positivity and should make the listener comfortable and hooked on to your speech. 

 

11.  Drink Water: To keep the insides of your mouth hydrated, it is always recommended to drink enough water before you can speak. It is also suggested that you carry a bottle of water with you. 

 

12.  Do research: If the topic is given beforehand, you will have enough time to do a proper research about the main ideas to be included in your speech. Don’t spend too much time researching. Search for only what you need and make it part of your presentation. 

 

13. Speech Shadowing: This is an interesting activity where you can imitate the speech style and stage manners of great speakers. Some of the great speakers whom you can imitate are Barack Obama, Deepak Chopra, Martin Luther King, Steve Jobs, Shiv Khera. You can play the audio version of these great minds, download the script and read along as you listen to the speech. It is exactly like singing along listening to the songs of K.J Yesudas, SPB or even Kishore Kumar or KS Chitra. 

 

14.  Use Technology: You can use the AI voice assistant available in your smartphones to improve your speaking skill. Voice assistants like Amazon Alexa, Apple Siri and the Google Voice Assistant can be used for this purpose. There are also bots available on the internet with whom you can talk to. Some of them are free and some are paid. 

 

15.  Think in English. We are so lucky that the first language that we learn is our mother tongue but learning one language is not just enough to survive in this world. Since the first language is the mother tongue, we will be inclined to think in that language. You should make some conscious efforts to think in English. 

 

16.  Retell a story in English:  One easy way to improve English speaking fluency is to retell a story, preferably from your mother tongue into English.

 

17.  Don’t focus on your errors: Mistakes are bound to happen, and they are proof that you are trying. Be aware of the mistakes and but don’t feel bad about making them. Errors should not kill your enthusiasm to learn a new language. 

 

18. Use a good dictionary: I am not referring to the age-old big book, which is lying somewhere in your home gathering dust. In today’s world, online dictionaries are more popular than physical ones. The good thing about online dictionaries is that you will get the pronunciation of the words. 

 

19. Speak to express not to impress: Your speech should always express good thoughts and ideas. Use short sentences and simple words. Don’t try to impress people with your language fluency. Always express yourself. Do not try to impress. 

 

20. Speak! Speak! Speak! Like any other skill, unless you practice your speaking every day, you will not improve it. Just by watching this video, you will not become a good speaker. You need to practice it daily and it will take time. It is like cooking; you cannot learn cooking by reading a recipe book. You need to get inside the kitchen and cook. 

 

Wishing you all the best and if you have some queries you can always contact me in the email id - jith77@gmail.com