Keynote

Education
5 ways to listen better, Julian Treasure
B1–C2
Discussion
1 Work in groups. Discuss the questions.
1 Would you say that you are a good listener? Why? / Why not?
2 Do you think that one hundred years ago people listened better than they do today? Why? / Why
not?
3 What are some reasons it can be difficult for people in schools and classrooms to listen to each
other?
4 What could teachers and students do to become better listeners in the classroom?

Key words
2 Match the words and phrases in bold with their definitions (a–j).
1 He might have been a successful politician if he had been a good public speaker, but his oratory
really lacked passion.
2 Angela sat happily on the beach savouring the music in every sound … the waves, the seagulls
and her young son’s laughter.
3 Good listeners use a method of extraction to separate important information from the things
they don’t need to listen to.
4 Experts have found that some people find it more difficult than others to discount loud noises in
the office and still think clearly and do their work.
5 Even though the news was incredibly exciting, our manager announced it in such an understated
way that she appeared to consider it unimportant.
6 I phoned her from the train station, but the cacophony of brakes, loudspeaker announcements
and huge crowds made it impossible to hear her.
7 When we hear so much shocking information again and again, unfortunately we become
desensitized to it.
8 Kenji made a list of everything he had heard that day, from extraordinary sounds, such as the
dramatic chorus in an opera, to mundane noises, like a door closing or a car starting.
9 I didn’t listen to the whole interview, but I heard a few sound bites from it, which someone had
posted online.
10 In a loud environment, it can be difficult to notice micro-noises, such as the gentle sound of a
person breathing.

a ordinary and everyday; not special ____________________

b short, memorable extracts taken from a longer recording ____________________
c very loud, unpleasant sounds ____________________
d enjoying or appreciating a sensory experience as much as possible ____________________
e tiny sounds that are not easy to notice ____________________
f ability to speak formally to groups of people ____________________
g expressed in a subtle, quiet or simple way ____________________
h to ignore a sound because you don’t think it is important ____________________
i unlikely to feel distressed by bad news because of being exposed to it so often
____________________
j the process of taking something away from or out of something else; removing something
____________________

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 Education
5 ways to listen better
Comprehension
3 Watch Julian Treasure’s TED Talk, 5 ways to listen better on TED.com. Are the sentences true
(T) or false (F)?
1 Julian Treasure defines listening as a mental process to make meaning from sound by taking the
important information from what we hear. _____
2 Pattern recognition and ‘differencing’ are listening techniques that we use to filter sounds.
_____
3 Listening filters stop us from hearing what we need to hear. _____
4 New ways of recording have helped us to improve our listening skills. _____
5 Julian Treasure suggests wearing headphones to help improve our listening skills. _____
6 Losing our ability to listen consciously is serious because if we don’t listen, we can’t understand
each other, and that makes the world more frightening. _____
7 Some of Julian Treasure’s listening exercises need special equipment. _____
8 Julian Treasure mentions a spiritual aspect to listening because he has written a book about
spirituality. _____
9 He thinks it is important to teach listening in schools in order to make it easier for students to do
well in their exams. _____
10 Julian Treasure wants the TED community to work together to find ways of getting listening
taught in schools. _____
4 Rewrite the false sentences from Exercise 3 so that they are true.
5 What are the five ways to listen better that Julian Treasure describes in his talk? Complete the
sentences with a word or phrase. Then watch the TED Talk from 4.05–6.26 and check your
answers.
1 In __________ or quietness, take three minutes to reset your ears.
2 Among mixed noises, listen for __________ channels of sound.
3 __________the beauty of different sounds, even very ordinary ones.
4 Depending on the situation and what you’re listening to, change your ____________________
(or filters).
5 Practise receiving, appreciating, summarizing and __________ .

The big idea

6 Work in groups. Discuss the questions.
1 Julian Treasure gives a number of reasons why we are losing our listening. Put the reasons in
order according to how much of an effect you think they have on our listening skills, from 1 (the
most) to 8 (the least).
___ a the media’s need for sound bites
___ b personal broadcasting via social media
___ c a noisier world
___ d the invention of writing
___ e people’s impatience to find out things quickly
___ f people’s tendency to wear headphones
___ g ‘loud’ headlines desensitizing us to news
___ h the rise of video and audio recording
2 Which of the five techniques for listening better would be most useful to you in your personal
life? Which would be most useful to students and teachers at school? Why?

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5 ways to listen better
Language focus – listening skills
7 Use the expressions in bold to help you put the text in the correct order. The text is a summary
of the talk. Then watch the TED Tal r .48 and check your answers.
___ a … any ne’s attenti n. A world where nobody listens …
___ b … attention to only the sounds that matter to us. Other clues help us learn about our
world. The space around us creates reverberations as the sound bounces …
___ c … to each other is a scary place. To improve the quality of your listening, he suggests
sitting in a noisy …
___ d … environment like a coffee bar and counting the number of different ‘channels’ that you
can hear.
___ e … listening. With such a cacophony of sound and image around us, it is harder for the
media and other people to get …
___ f … off the different surfaces. Julian Treasure says we are losing our ability for conscious …
___ g … specific noises from the general signal. We use filters to pay …
___ h … the pattern of sound and sit up. This way we are able to distinguish …
_1_ i There are a number of techniques that help us hear the important stuff. For example,
when we suddenly hear our names, we recognize …
8 Complete the sentences with these words. There are two extra words.
cease clarification concentration distractions focus on intention

1 Even in a noisy environment, we can learn to ignore _______________ so that we can listen
actively and carefully.
2 Listening properly requires _______________ , which can be difficult at times because it’s natural
for our thoughts to wander. We can improve by practising skills and strategies.
3 Don’t be afraid to ask for _______________ if you are not sure that you have heard and
understood something correctly.
4 If you only _______________ what you want to communicate and not on what someone is saying
to you, you cannot have a meaningful conversation.
9 Choose the correct word or phrase (a, b or c) to match these definitions.
1 listening in a deliberate and intentional way; being fully aware of what you are hearing
a distractions b conscious listening c clarification
2 sounds that can be recognized because they are repeated regularly
a reverberations b soundscapes c patterns
3 actively take notice of someone or something
a pay attention b distinguish c bounce off
4 making something clear in order to avoid confusion later
a concentration b distraction c clarification
5 the process of giving all your attention to one activity
a distinguishing b concentration c recognizing patterns
6 things that make it difficult to think or listen carefully
a distractions b patterns c sound bites
7 to notice or recognize differences between things
a soundscapes b clarification c distinguish
8 to direct your attention to something specific
a recognize b distinguish c focus on

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 Education
5 ways to listen better
10 Complete the text with the correct words and phrases from Exercises 7 and 8.
Experts have long recognized the value of 1__________ listening. Now, more than ever, we often
spend a lot of time in a 2__________ environment, with a cacophony of sounds and images. It has
become particularly challenging to 3__________ on what we need to hear. Various 4__________
prevent us from listening carefully and many of us find it difficult to 5__________ what is
important from what is irrelevant. The problem is that an inability to 6__________ to each other
leads to a breakdown in understanding. The good news is that listening skills can be improved.
We can learn how to pay 7__________ to what people are saying to us. Whenever there is
uncertainty about a person’s meaning, we can ask for 7__________ . We can also develop better
skills of 9__________ , by switching off mobile devices, for example. Active listening lets us
function better in our work and personal lives.

Speaking
11 Work in small groups. Create a short presentation titled ‘How to improve y ur students’
listening skills’ Include suggesti ns and tips drawn r s e the ideas in Julian Treasure’s
Ted Talk, as well as any additional ideas of your own. Consider:
 discussing what causes poor listening skills
 outlining common problems for students and teachers in classrooms and around school
 explaining good listening habits as well as bad ones
 demonstrating strategies for improved listening
 your own ideas

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