Listening Survey
My listening effectiveness
In order to have effective listening a communicator must go beyond the mechanical process of hearing to truly understand what is being said. There is more to the process than reacting “automatically and routinely without much mental investment” (Adler, Rosenfeld, & Proctor, 2010). To truly have effective listening, a communicator must give “careful and thoughtful attention and responses to the messages we receive” (Adler, Rosenfeld, & Proctor, 2010). (Good definition/explanation.)
I began my quest to learn about my personal listening effectiveness by asking my dad, my husband, my sister, my mom, and one of my closest friends. I also took three listening analysis tests provided online. This turned out to be an interesting project as I learned a lot about my strengths and weaknesses. This quest began with my dad. He has always been my biggest supporter and advisor. So naturally it was a good opportunity to hear what he thought and advice he would give me. When I got the analysis back, I realized that I am not as good of a listener to my dad as I believed I was. It seems that I got mainly twos and threes with one four for my ability to look at the person when they are speaking to me. He thinks that I genuinely show that I am engaged in what is being said in the conversation, but when I don’t understand what is being talked about or am bored my eyes glaze over and he can tell my mind is wandering.
The next person I approached was my husband of 15 years, Brian. He knows my quirks and can read my moods very well. I scored the highest on Brian’s analysis with the highest points where I appear interested, I don’t try to change his mind, and I ask questions to find out more information. There were 3 fours and the rest were mainly threes, which would infer that I am engaged in actively listening to him. On his analysis, he pointed out that I multitask while I’m listening and then ask to repeat what was said. I am aware that
In order to have effective listening a communicator must go beyond the mechanical process of hearing to truly understand what is being said. There is more to the process than reacting “automatically and routinely without much mental investment” (Adler, Rosenfeld, & Proctor, 2010). To truly have effective listening, a communicator must give “careful and thoughtful attention and responses to the messages we receive” (Adler, Rosenfeld, & Proctor, 2010). (Good definition/explanation.)
I began my quest to learn about my personal listening effectiveness by asking my dad, my husband, my sister, my mom, and one of my closest friends. I also took three listening analysis tests provided online. This turned out to be an interesting project as I learned a lot about my strengths and weaknesses. This quest began with my dad. He has always been my biggest supporter and advisor. So naturally it was a good opportunity to hear what he thought and advice he would give me. When I got the analysis back, I realized that I am not as good of a listener to my dad as I believed I was. It seems that I got mainly twos and threes with one four for my ability to look at the person when they are speaking to me. He thinks that I genuinely show that I am engaged in what is being said in the conversation, but when I don’t understand what is being talked about or am bored my eyes glaze over and he can tell my mind is wandering.
The next person I approached was my husband of 15 years, Brian. He knows my quirks and can read my moods very well. I scored the highest on Brian’s analysis with the highest points where I appear interested, I don’t try to change his mind, and I ask questions to find out more information. There were 3 fours and the rest were mainly threes, which would infer that I am engaged in actively listening to him. On his analysis, he pointed out that I multitask while I’m listening and then ask to repeat what was said. I am aware that
Cited: Adler, R. B., Rosenfeld, L. B., & Proctor, R. F. (2010). Interplay: The Process of Interpersonal Communication (11thth ed., pp. 206-239). New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Are you a good listener?. (2010). Retrieved June 16, 2010, from http://queendom.com Covey, S. R. (1990). The 7 habits of highly effective people. New York, NY: Fireside.