"Effective listening begins with recognizing how poor we really are at listening, and with developing a determination to work hard to improve our listening skills. We need to develop an attitude that says, "I'm going to get something out of this lecture that I can use no matter what it takes." Here are a few suggestions that will help you improve your listening skills. First, work hard to keep your focus on the message and make a determined effort to return to focus when your mind begins to wonder. To help in maintaining focus, make mental summaries of the speaker's main ideas. Second, try to predict the speaker's next main idea. These two hints will help to keep you actively involved in what the speaker is saying. Listening is a very difficult and an active process. Listening is just plain hard work."