Pete, may I suggest, when you are listening to some one else that you (with all respect) shut up inside?  Or here are some other strategies 1) practise "active listening".  In this activity you deliberately subvocalise what you hear as you are hearing it.  This has the effect of engaging your internal dialogue and adds a kinesthetic component to your "listening".  You will learn some interesing things as you notice more about others speeach patterns and what it feels like to speak them... 2) If Darth Vader is someone you respect and whose voice fills you with pleasant feelings then fine!  However I would choose to change the voice to something that provokes my curiosity and relaxes me into the certainty that understanding will come easily.  A soft lilting (female) irish accent does it for me every time :-)  throw in some ooooohhh aaahhhss and ummmms for good measure.  You might also ask what questions you need to ask to clarify your understanding. 3)  On a more general note there are stategies listed elsewhere on this very site for stopping internal dialogue.  If stopping is difficult, and it is for many people, then another approach is what I call "tracking" and simply involves using your internal dialogue to "label" your immediate ongoing sensory experience. eg "I'm noticing x while y as z and a etc...." Your can refines your ability to notice distinctions in different sense modalities by drilling yourself this way one rep system at a time... Robin Manuell www.ideasinmotion.co.uk