week 4 post 3

I thought the “listening is a ten part skill” was an insightful reading and gave me a lot of good tips for then next time i am in a situation where i have to listen to someone, which is likely to be soon. The reading first talked about starting a conversation and said it is important to have an area of interest that both parties find interesting. If you are disinterested in what is being talked about you will be less likely to listen. It then talks about how we should not let the delivery hinder our view on the communication. if we do not like the way someone sounds we should not let that take away from the content that person is delivering. holding back from becoming to excited about the topic at hand is the next thing that is talked about. We should be aware of overstimulation because that will take away from the conversation. the next tip is to listen for ideas. the book says that listening for central ideas is important and will improve listening. It then talks about how being flexible is important for a good listeners. Each situation may call for something different, not being fixed into a certain way of doing something can be helpful. Then the reading talks about ways to improve listening. tips it gives is to simply work at listening. Paying attention to the process and trying to improve every chance you get can help. it then says it is important to resist distractions when listening. there are plenty of noise happening when trying to listen and trying to focus on what is being said can help. finally it talks about keeping your mind open. When listening it is important to keep your opinion open so you can hear the whole argument. if you are against something and decide that it is wrong right away you will stop listening and may miss something that will change your mind.