There were many interesting concepts covered in the textbook. A concept that stood out for me was the importance of listening in chapter 3.
"We were given two ears but only one mouth, because listening is twice as hard as talking." unknown
The text describes listening as the forgotten part of communication and I think it is true that we tend to not consciously listen at times. According to Trenholm, we assign meaning when we listen and it is influenced by our habits, expectations and desires, (pg 46). Active listening takes skill and a conscious effort on our part. If we make the effort to truly listen we can do better in school, at work and in our personal relationships. How many times have we listened to a song, a professor lecture or our friends talk and not really remember what they just said? Good communicators not only know how to speak well but they know how to listen well too!! Trenholm gives many helpful tips on how to improve this skill, such as avoiding distractions, know why you are listening and to keep biases at bay.
When we actively listen – we not only listen to what the other party says, but we reflect on what has been said to verify. This type of listening is very effective and important, so we understand the message.
Listening is my favorite concept since it is a big part of our communication and we have a lot at stake when we do not listen. So take the time to actively listen!!!
I think listening takee practice and some effort. I sometimes say back song lyrics to people and they say 'I didn't know it said that' so most people tend to practice being bad lsteners. The book also mentions how we are taught to be poor listeners. This makes it even harder to break out of. I also think that active listening is important. It makes conversations much more interesting when you feel as if the person you are talking to really cares about what you have to say.
ReplyDeleteI like the quote you open your blog with. It puts into perspective how important listening is. I think it's where most, if not all, of miscommunication comes from. If people practiced being better listeners it would cut down on the instances where miscommuncation happens.
Hey Sunshine! Can you believe the last week is finally here?! The past 10 weeks have been great and I hope you enjoyed the class as much as I did. I really enjoyed reading your post about listening. I like the quote that you used saying that listening is twice as hard as talking. I think that is so true. Half of the time people don't really listen to what people are saying to them. Sure you can be listening to a person when they are talking to you but how often do you actually take in and absorb everything that they just said to you. Listening is a hard skill to develop. I really enjoyed reading the chapter about it and I think more people should learn about listening and maybe improve their communication skills.
ReplyDeletenoname707 and Commgirl105,
ReplyDeleteI am glad you both liked the quote. It is such a hard skill that requires practice.
I too can't believe 10 weeks have passed, I am going to miss blogging!!!!
Thanks for the comments and enjoy the rest of your break!!!!
I enjoyed reading your blog on listening. I have seen your quotation, or one like it, before and find it very intriguing. I do find that listening is harder than talking and it is something I am always working on. I find myself to be a pretty good listener, but than at times I feel as though I am not. I feel like with such a go go go attitude in our society the actual idea of taking time out to listen to your fellow peers is not as easy. Just as you said in your blog it takes time and effort to listen. And sometimes people feel as though they do not have the time for this. I agree that being a good communicator is being able to portray a message as well as being able to listen. Very interesting and truthful blog! It was good to read your blogs throughout the summer, thanks for sharing!!
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