Last week!! Discussion #3

Probably my favorite concept was from Chapter 7 on Listening. I found this concept to be very interesting when we first touched on it in my public speaking class. Most people just assume that listening is listening. Sure, we figure that people may or may not be paying attention. However I think it's cool that people have come up with theories and concepts that actually divide how we listen into subgroups, and they explain why we may or may not actually be listening and more importantly interpreting and understanding the message. I also really like reading about active listening, and the barriers to active listening. I know it sounds kind of odd but sometimes if I am not paying attention to a speech or lecture sometimes I try to figure out why I don't want to pay attention - is there noise in the room, is it lack of interest or is the person giving a distracting delivery, is my response going to be pre-programmed anyway (this happens so many times when people tell me their personal stories after I ask them a simple question, like 'how was your weekend' and they want to respond with a ridiculous sob story that was all their fault anyway).

On the flip side I also like to evaluate people's response to my lectures or presentations and decide whether or not they were actively listening. p 134-135 talks about keys to active listening response methods - paraphrasing, asking questions, expressing understanding. Recently I gave a class presentation on something and I noticed during my presentation people were on their laptops and on their cellphones.. Which is normal during that class anyway.. But either way I knew that people weren't paying attention. After I was done I asked if anyone had any questions and there were none. This is how I know people were not paying attention and I felt like I had wasted my time.