The first tip that I will be going into some detail and explain a little about it would be to “Tune in”. To “Tune in” is to focus your attention on the person giving you the presentation before they begin. I chose this tip because it only makes sense to start focusing your attention well before the presenter starts the lecture. That is something that I would never have done or even thought about doing before and I think will benefit me better in future presentations that I might have to sit thru. In an academic environment, this way of listening should help me greatly understand what the instructors are trying to get across when they are lecturing me.
This next tip I have come across many time but don’t end up trying but will now is “Staying active by asking mental questions”. Asking questions internally will keep my attention focused. This tip is not new to me but the only difference this time from other times is I wasn’t in school and now can really try to use it. That is one of my problems is that my mind will start to drift away and end up missing parts of a lecture. So this should greatly improve my mental focus and keep me interested in the information or material that gets put out.
This last tip that I feel like I need to make work is “Avoiding emotional involvement”. If the instructor is talking about a controversial issue or the instructor mentions a topic or word that has emotional meaning for you, it could easily get you emotionally involved. So for me it’s hard for me but have improved on checking my emotions at the “door”. When this occurs it could sometimes cause me to have selective hearing because I was getting emotional and so would make me be dismissive of whatever the lecturer had to say after. So now I can identify more quickly and am better equipped to handle this state of mind that used to take a hold of me. For that now I am better able to