Chapter Recap

• The process of listening involves six stages. In addition to hearing a message, you also understand, interpret, and evaluate it, before remembering and responding to it.

• Although knowing how the different listening functions work and how to switch between them is important, try not to multitask when listening, or you might completely miss information.

• Your listening style is influenced by your personal preference, gender, and culture. However, being an active listener means using all four styles as needed.

• Though common, try to avoid listening pitfalls, such as selective, pseudo-, and aggressive listening.

• By managing your feedback, adapting your listening, and recognizing the value of silence, you can improve your active listening skills.

1. The Impact of Negative Feedback

   Question

   Recall an encounter in which you were saying something important but the other person gave you negative feedback. Perhaps the person made fun of what you were saying or clearly ignored your message via text or e-mail. Write a brief paper explaining what happened and how the negative feedback affected your communication during the interaction. Did this influence any other communication between the two of you? Is negative feedback ever competent? If so, when?

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   1. Recall an encounter in which you were saying something important but the other person gave you negative feedback. Perhaps the person made fun of what you were saying or clearly ignored your message via text or e-mail. Write a brief paper explaining what happened and how the negative feedback affected your communication during the interaction. Did this influence any other communication between the two of you? Is negative feedback ever competent? If so, when?

2. The “Noise List”

   Question

   To examine how your attention wavers when listening, choose two people—a classmate, a friend, a family member, a coworker, a romantic partner—and engage each of them in a conversation of at least 10 minutes. Afterwards, record as many details as you can about each conversation—whom it was with, topics covered, time of day, and location. Then come up with a “noise list,” detailing the distractions you faced in each conversation. What impeded your ability to actively listen? Did you multitask during either of the conversations? Did you experience similar noise challenges in both conversations? How could you overcome such distractions, or noise, during future conversations?

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   2. To examine how your attention wavers when listening, choose two people—a classmate, a friend, a family member, a coworker, a romantic partner—and engage each of them in a conversation of at least 10 minutes. Afterwards, record as many details as you can about each conversation—whom it was with, topics covered, time of day, and location. Then come up with a “noise list,” detailing the distractions you faced in each conversation. What impeded your ability to actively listen? Did you multitask during either of the conversations? Did you experience similar noise challenges in both conversations? How could you overcome such distractions, or noise, during future conversations?