The purpose is to provide you with an opportunity to complete an introspective a
ID: 416358 • Letter: T
Question
The purpose is to provide you with an opportunity to complete an introspective analysis to improve your active listening skills. Generally, most people prefer to talk than to listen. Think about a situation that was created due to a lack of listening by either you or another party. It does not matter whom you believe is responsible for the outcome. What does matter is how you can now better assess what happened. With this in mind, respond to the following:
QUESTIONS:
How might you improve your active listening skills to prevent a similar situation from occurring in the future?
What do you believe is the most common reason why people in general (and you in particular) do not listen more effectively? If you prefer, write about your own listening skills.
What pointers from Interpersonal Communication in Organizations do you think would help you increase your active listening skills? Write about one of the pointers from any offers the best way for people (or you) to improve your ability to listen actively.
Explanation / Answer
Listening plays an important role in effective communication. However, in general, people do not give much attention to listening and prefer talking. It might sometimes result in misunderstanding, conflicts or embarrassing situations. Consider the following example-
During a guest lecture in my college, I have asked a question from the lecturer which he just answered few minutes back for another student. While the lecturer was answering the query of the student, I was busy thinking what questions I may ask from him. Hence, I missed the conversation and was put into an embarrassing situation.
I can use the following steps to improve my active listening skills to prevent similar situation in future. First and most important, by being fully present at the moment and paying attention to the speaker and other persons. I should avoid being distracted by my own thoughts and feelings.
As per my understanding, people generally do not listen most carefully because they are not fully present at the moment, or distracted by their own thoughts and feelings, or tend to jump at conclusions before understanding the speakers’ perspective.
One can increase his/her listening skills using the steps that are used in improving interpersonal communication in organizations. One should always try to make an eye contact with the speaker, but do not stare at him/her. He/she should pay proper attention to the verbal and non-verbal communication taking place. Besides, one needs to be attentive and try to understand the speakers’ viewpoint without judging or jumping to conclusions. One should avoid any distraction while talking. In addition to it, one should not interrupt the speaker while he/she is middle of the conversation. One should not judge someone based on their age, gender, race, previous experiences, etc. as they also create a barrier in effective listening.
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