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Activity 4:1
What brought the dispute to a close? Was the dispute settled amicably? Why did it
take so long to be settled? Could it have been settled before it actually did? What
would you have done if you were one of the parties?
This exercise will be even more valuable if you can have one or two of your friends or
colleagues to observe the dispute along with you and then join you in your analysis.
Activity 4:2
Initially you and your partner may be aware of the recorder and feel a bit awkward.
Later, as you get involved, you will not be conscious of the recorder.
After the conversation is over, play it back and look for instances of jumping in
before the other party finishes, completing the other person’s sentences, and missing
the other person’s point. All these point to poor listening.
If you find several instances of any of these in your speech, try and keep an eye on it
so that over a period of time you can correct it.
Activity 4:3
A variant of this exercise is for a small group to listen to a news telecast or broadcast
and check the quality of their listening. Find out items that all of you have retained,
items all of you have missed, and items some retained and others missed. Speculate
on why there are these differences between individuals.
It will be interesting for you to find out how much you retain a week or ten days after
the listening exercise. Again find out why you retained what you did.
Activity 4:4
Ask a friend, relation, or a member of your group to narrate to you an incident from
their life that caused them a lot of tension, disappointmen, suffering, or joy. Listen to
it intently but without taking any notes. When the narration is over, narrate it back
as well as you can. Then ask your friend whether you have captured the spirit, not
just the details, of what they have narrated. Have you missed out any important
detail that has a bearing on their emotional response? If you missed anything
important, why did it happen?
Activity 4:5
Many experts on leadership rate listening as the most important skill that good,
humane leaders display. Read the biography of a great leader you admire and look
for evidence of the way practised listening, the way they understood not only what
the followers said but also why they said it. You can choose a political leader such as
Mahatma Gandhi or a business leader such as JRD Tata. You can choose a local
leader or a leader from a foreign country. What matters is the way you read the
biography – looking for the quality of their listening rather than other qualities such
as extraordinary courage and persistence that they may display.
You might like to consult some Web sources to enhance your listening skills. Here are
a few.
http://www.library.kent.edu/commstudies/skills/speaking.htm
http://web.cba.neu.edu/~ewertheim/interper/feedback.htm
http://www.vet.ohio-state.edu/docs/vm700_11/Notes/active.html
http://www.itstime.com/apr2000a.htm