Words: 1233
Listening examples: Person – My friend Circumstance – We were playing disc golf. My friend was telling me about his Job sending him to Japan for 3 months. Listening Behavior – We were playing a game so we were not continuously looking at each other, I would occasionally input my feedback and opinion on the matters he spoke of. Our conversation on this topic lasted a good 20 minutes.
Additional Comments – My friend was worried about leaving to a foreign country or three months, he was afraid that he would not enjoy living outside his comfort zone and away from his friends and family. made it known that he appreciated our conversation and my input and advice. It seemed that he Just needed someone to express his feelings to and I was glad to be able to provide that for him. Circumstance – We are lifelong friends and he was calling me Just to catch up and fill each other in on what we have been up to recently. nd I grew up together but at the age of 13 our parents had a falling out, so we see each other much less, specially now that he goes to school in Boulder Colorado. We regularly call each other to catch up and tend to have long, meaningful conversations about our recent activities. This time that he called me I was preoccupied with playing video games. Listening Behavior – I was more preoccupied with my games than I was with my phone conversation.
I exhibited signs of mindless listening and maybe a bit of pseudolistening because I would respond every now and again with an “uh huh” or “yeah” to make it seem like I was paying attention, when in reality I was completely bsorbed in my game. Additional Comments – My friend knows me too well to not get the feeling of me being distracted. He quickly called me out on not listening to him and he told me to call back when I was free. Luckily and I are great friends and he didn’t take my lack of attention offensively. I called him back 20 minutes later and we had a perfectly good, supportive and reciprocal conversation.
Person – My friends and dive leader Circumstance – This past weekend I went on a scuba diving trip to Monterey with a few of my friends as part of furthering our diving abilities. Before the entering the he expected from us on this dive and the rules we had to follow. Listening Behavior – Although my friends and I already have our scuba license and know how to safely dive, this lesson was meant to prepare us for the next tier of scuba diving and it is essential for our safety to mindfully listen to the instructor.
During our lesson my friends and I were very conscious of our teacher and what he was saying, we never started side conversation or lost interest. The only input we made was a question here and there to clarify a misunderstanding. Additional Comments – This circumstance required a great deal of attentive listening and I believe it was made easier by our love for the topic and the importance it held in regards to our safety and the safety of our buddies.
Not only did we have to listen to our above water instructions but while underwater it is important to be aware of any sounds that might suggest a problem with the dive or your buddies. While doing this exercise I noticed that I am a more mindful listener than I had originally thought. When listening to my superiors such as instructors or elders I tend o talk less and give less personal feedback. Instead of listening to them and occasionally giving my opinions throughout the conversation, I like to listen thoroughly and then give my feedback if needed.
During this time I do not always have the appearance of an attentive listener, sometimes my line of vision wanders from the speaker and I often do things with my hands or shake my leg, giving the appearance of insensitive or mindless listening, when in reality doing these things helps me absorb the information from the speaker. I found that different ircumstances require different types of listening, and usually I am able to provide this for the speaker. It is easy for me to keep my attention when the dialog is about something I have a person liking for, such as my dive instructor as mentioned earlier.
It becomes harder for me to listen appropriately when it is regarding something I don’t have an interest in, such as during a long lecture or something that I know I won’t be able to impact or change. Although it may be more difficult for me to listen thoroughly, I have always been taught to be respectful and a large part of that is istening when someone is talking to me, so although at times I have trouble doing so, I rarely find myself completely unable to listen and understand. I learned that one thing that really gets in my way of listening well is watching T.
V, playing video games or reading. When I am doing these things it is usually because I am trying to relax, and I tend to be in a relatively relaxed state of mind. My buddy called me the other day while I was playing video games, he is one of my few lifelong friends and he was Just calling to see how I was doing. I tried to talk with him while till playing games and he was quickly aware of the fact that I was distracted. He told me to call back when I was available and he understood my lack of attention.
Before starting this assignment I had thought that I might not be the greatest listener because I tend to get distracted easily and I am usually fiddling with something while I listen to the speaker. After examining myself and my listening habits I learned that these actions actually help me to retain information. When I focus on preventing myself from doing these things it actually subtracts from my mage of a mindful listener, I have different techniques that allow me to be a strong listener.
One specific idea from the book that I have been trying to apply to my listening technique is that of talking less. I noticed that while communicating with my friends we tend to constantly vocalize our opinions and ideas when listening to each other. While we are listening to what each of us is saying, it tends to seem more like a contest rather than a respectful, sincere case of listening. This habit tends to carry on to my other conversation with less familiar peers and sometimes my superiors.
It is not always a negative thing, but I have learned that more times than not I am able to take a better understanding of the dialog if I hold my input in until the speaker has fully expressed their points. Through this exercise I learned that listening is easily taken for granted, it takes more effort than most initially believe to mindfully listen to others. By observing yourself as a listener, one is able to identify factors that either contribute to, or subtract from, productive listening. Without self-observance these factors are easily overlooked or disregarded as insignificant.