Listening for Gist

What is a 'gist'?
The 'gist' is defined as 'the main or essential part of a matter'; 'the
central idea'; 'the essence'; 'the central meaning or theme of a speech
or literary work'.
Listening for Gist is when the learner tries to understand what is
happening even if he or she can’t understand every phrase or sentence.

The learner is trying to pick up key words, intonation, and other clues
so as to make a guess at the meaning.

In other words, the gist of a conversation is what the conversation is

about.

The gist is the big picture, it is not the little details.

• What is the subject of the conversation?
• What is the main idea of the conversation?
• What is the purpose of the conversation? Why does the student go
to the office?
• Why does the student visit the professor? What is the conversation
about?
LISTENING FOR MAIN IDEA & SUPPORTING DETAILS
KEYS TO IDENTIFY MAIN IDEAS

A speaker may signal a main idea through discourse markers; that is,
there are certain phrases that tell you a main idea is coming. Here are
some examples:
• The point I want to make/cover here is...
• The main point is...
• The important thing here is...
• What I’m trying to show is...
• What I’m going to talk about today is...
• The purpose of my remarks is ...
• This afternoon I’d like to explain/focus on...
• Repetition, or how many times a word or phrase is repeated. If
something is repeated several times, it suggests importance.
• Pace. Pace is the speed of speech. Unimportant points or small details
are usually spoken more quickly. Important points, such as main
ideas, are usually spoken more slowly and clearly.
• A lecturer’s visual aids, such as outlines, lists or drawings, often
provide obvious clues to a speaker’s main points. These visual aids
should be taken advantage of.
LISTENING FOR MAIN IDEA AND SUPPORTING DETAIL

Suppose I ask you ‘What is the best restaurant in Bangalore?

• Tamarind Restaurant is the best restaurant in Bangalore, is the main
idea.
• You then continue to say Tamarind Restaurant, western food, cheap,
delicious, many choices, friendly waiters. These are considered
supporting details.
• These will be the supporting details.
LISTENING FOR SPECIFIC DETAILS

• There are situations in real life where we listen only for some specific
details and ignore the rest of the entire message. e.g. weather
forecast, announcements in train stations/airports, … etc.
• Once you have learned to pick out the main idea in a lecture, your
next step is to note the specific details. You will need these details
later to answer questions on all types of exams: multiple choice, short
answer, and essay. To listen for and note specific details, it is helpful to
notice how the lecture is organized.