Here's why:
* The Listening Process: The listening process is often broken down into several stages:
* Receiving: This is the initial stage where you hear the sounds of the speech.
* Attending: This involves focusing on the message and filtering out distractions.
* Understanding: This involves making sense of the message, interpreting the speaker's meaning.
* Remembering: This involves retaining the information from the speech.
* Evaluating: This is the crucial stage where you critically analyze the information, determining its validity, relevance, and usefulness. You also assess your level of understanding.
* Responding: This involves providing feedback, either verbally or nonverbally.
Evaluation is key to determining comprehension: During evaluation, you:
* Analyze the speaker's arguments: Do they make sense? Are they supported by evidence?
* Assess the speaker's credibility: Is the speaker knowledgeable and trustworthy?
* Identify any inconsistencies or biases: Do you see any flaws in the speaker's logic or presentation?
* Reflect on your own understanding: Did you grasp the main points? Can you summarize the speech?
By actively evaluating the speech, you can gauge how well you understood it and identify areas where you need clarification.