Listening Effectively

Listening Effectively
Module 5

  When it comes to listening and communicating I used to consider myself proficient. That was until I actually graded myself during this conversational evaluation. During the conversation, I caught myself numerous times wanting to interrupt, interject, and in general control the conversation.   I chose to have a conversation with my spouse about open communication and how we relate to one another.   My actions were not intentional and were almost unnoticeable.   While my spouse was explaining how he felt and his position, he would often pause in search of the correct verbiage; instinctively I wanted to finish his sentence or volunteer vocabulary suggestions to help him finish his thoughts. As I took mental notes of my behavior, I silently chuckled to myself in disbelief. Silent listening is by far the most difficult skill for me to implement in my daily listening and communication skills. Silent listening is defined by staying attentive and nonverbally responsive without offering any verbal feedback. I believed that the key to a good conversation was to be interactive. After reading Chapter 7 of our reading assignment I came to understand that silent listening is not equivalent to avoidance or lack of participation. I am a very opinionated and vocal person and believe that these characteristics help contribute to these behaviors.   Eye contact was the easiest skill for me the implement into the conversation. I usually obtain and maintain eye contact to make sure that I am hearing what someone is saying correctly. I read lips and facial expressions for indicators in evaluating a person’s sincerity and mindset. This conversation differed from my usual conversation pattern because I made the conscious effort not to interrupt, interject or voice my point of view until my spouse was finished talking completely. I made mental notes for questions that I wanted to ask, clarifications I wanted to make and answers to insinuations made. I did...