[citation needed] When listening to a person's message, it is common to overlook aspects of the conversation or make judgments before all of the information is presented.
[citation needed] Confirmation bias is the tendency to pick out aspects of a conversation that support one's own beliefs and values.
[citation needed] If they were to become angry about a statement the speaker made early in the conversation, they would likely be averse to accepting arguments presented later in the discourse.
[citation needed] With this knowledge, an individual can learn to critically judge both sides of an argument before coming to a conclusion.
[citation needed] In addition to avoiding the two major mistakes listed above, there are things one must do to be a competent informational listener.
The most obvious memory aid is simply taking notes, but it is also helpful to create a mental outline of the message as it is being heard.
When the main point has been deduced, one can begin to sort out the rest of the information and decide where it belongs in the mental outline.
[citation needed] Before getting the big picture of a message, it can be difficult to focus on what the speaker is saying, because it is impossible to know where any particular piece of information fits.