Effective Listening Personal Improvement Proposal

By: Berenice Olvera

Elements of Effective Communication (COMM 1010) Salt Lake Community College Instructor: Helena T. Hall September 6, 2013

Effective Listening Im in class the professor is speaking Im looking at her; I see her lips moving, and her hand gestures. I begin to think of how my mom does the same thing when shes explaining something to me. Next thing I know the professor dismisses the class our 50 minutes is up. I suffer from being unable to listen effectively. My Weakness After leaving my class I felt as if I was never even there. I had been doodling on my note pad instead of taking notes and didnt even realize it . Started to think back to see if I did this in everyday life or just in school. I realized that this unfortunately happened a just a few days ago with my dad. He had called me and asked me print off some documents that he needed. During the call I had him on speaker and received a text from a friend and replied back and completely missed what it exactly was that he needed. Later on that day he was very upset that I didnt do what he said. I noticed that I was a mindless listener and had a psychological and environmental barrier blocking me from fully engaging and paying attention to the conversation. (Pg.61-63) Resources and Constraints Since listening seems to be a problem in my life I can use my Communications 1010 text book as a resource to help me become an effective listener. I can also observe how my other family members or classmates interact with each other and learn from that. A constraint for me would probably be outside noise like my phone and receiving those so called quick text messages. I begin to think about what Im going to reply instead of focusing on the lecture for the day. Also when my mind is somewhere else home problems or work problems can make it easy to get distracted.

My Plan to Becoming an Effective Listener Listening is very important it can cause major conflict in your house hold, work or school. Something as small as not listening to the correct date can cost your company lost time and money. Listening can help things run more efficiently in these environments or help with something as simple as getting a better grade on a test. Great listening skills can help you have a successful relationship at home or work. You can help overcome being a mindless listener or having psychological or environmental barriers if you proactively attempt to make changes every day. When in a conversation with someone who is doing most of the talking it can become very easy to become a mindless listener. Sometimes they are doing all the talking and you feel like you cant even get a word in. You can prevent this by stopping then and asking questions and become engaged in the conversation. Try to relate personally to whatever they are talking about. They will notice that you were making an effort to pay attention to their comments or concerns. Youll be doing what is called relational listening and will be emotionally connecting with others. One of my biggest personal issues is having a psychological barrier when listening in a classroom setting. I found that this can easily be overcome by choosing to clear your mind from any personal issues. Having your mind preoccupied with other issues can ruin your focus and attention to class or even a conversation. Learn to put them aside when you go into your classroom. This can help you focus on whatever the lecture is at the moment. Also removing any and all types of electronic devices can help you keep your focus on the topic. Like

mentioned before receiving a text message and side conversation while youre trying to listening to someone else speak is almost impossible to do. An environmental barrier can be something that is out of your control. Things like a noisy crowded area can make it hard to focus and hear another person properly. Even in a classroom or work the room can too hot or too cold and it can easily become a distraction you dont need. In these cases my best suggestion would be to check to see if you can move from that area to have a better experience. If not make sure and take detailed notes so you can go back and review them once youre done with the lecture. Another one would be to paraphrase the speakers lecture in your own words to make sure that you understood them correctly. You can also ask questions so that you can verify that you have understood correctly. In conclusion being a mindless listener, having psychological barriers and environmental barriers can make listening and understanding difficult. However if you actively attempt to be more of a proactive listener by focusing on the speaker, having your mind ready for listening, and taking notes you should be able to overcome this weakness. I hope this will help you become more of an effective listener as it has helped me.

Works Cited
Adler, R.B., J.M. Elmhorst, K. Lucas. (2013). COMM 1010, Salt Lake Community College: Communicating at Work: Strategies for Success in Business and the Professions (11th ed). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 462 pp., plus Appendix A. http://www.oprah.com/relationships/Dr-Phils-Six-Rules-of-Talking-and-Listening http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/kline-listen/b10ch3.htm