Improving Listening for Communication Skills

Improving Listening for Communication Skills   Listening guidelines for myself for improving this important and necessary skill Introduction: Listening may be defined as the process of receiving, understanding, remembering, evaluating, and responding to verbal [spoken or written]and/or nonverbal messages (DeVito p.148). Listening is vital in the business world and is one of the most important and most valued communication skill we can have because at work we spend most of our times listening to co-workers, supervisors, and managers. Poor listening is inevitable and the good news is that listening can be improved through training. 1. How can I improve my listening skills in work situations to improve my overall performance? In todays workplace if we are going to function effectively in increase our overall performance we need to listen. In work situations one of the ways I can improve my listening skills is by improving my listening ability by strengthening the skills needed at each step of the listening process such as attention and concentration (receiving), learning(understanding), memory(remembering), critical thinking(evaluation), and competence in giving feedback (responding) (DeVito p. 148-149). I can face the speaker and maintain good eye-contact (a sign of honesty and a basic ingredient for effective communication). I can then start being attentive. Attentive means to be present, to pay and give attention to the speakers verbal and nonverbal messages. Understanding requires that I learn what the speaker means. I dont interrupt and I dont offer solutions if I am not being asked to. It is always polite to wait for the person that speaks to pause if clarifying questions need to be asked. These questions need to be used only to endure understanding. Also, if I want to communicate feedback I ask permission to do so. At work is imperative at the end of a message to rephrase in my own words what I heard to make sure I understood correctly the meaning of the message. Effective listening depends on remembering. (DeVito p.152) Taking notes and sometimes recording the message can be helpful with remembering the message. Evaluating is useful after a message has been clearly understood. Responding happens in two phases: immediate feedback responses that I make while speaker is still talking and delayed feedback- responses that I make after the speaker has stopped talking. 2. How can I improve my listening behaviors with a significant other? Personally, we want partners who listen to us. If we are to understand what a person means and what a personal is feeling, you need to listen with some degree of empathy, the feeling of anothers feelings. (Rogers, 1970) At home I can improve my listening behaviors with a significant other by engaging actively in the following behaviors: communicate a clear willingness to listen (DeVito p.162). First, I need to let my spouse know that I am open to listen to his thoughts and feelings. Create an atmosphere of openness and trust because this help my significant other with self-disclosing revealing information about himself that might be difficult to communicate. When listening to my spouse it is important that I look directly to him and I position my body towards him. In close intimate relationships, the emphatic style is the preferred mode of listening and depending on the situations nonjudgmental, active and depth could also be used. Emphatic listening allows me to understand my spouses meaning of the message the way he sees it and the way he feels it. It is essential that I echo his nonverbal expressions to demonstrate that I understand and feel my spouses thoughts and feelings. Lastly, it is desirable at the end of a message to give positive feedback and ask questions. It is important that I state to him in clear and honest language what I liked about his message, to stress my good intentions and to mention areas of agreement or disagreement. Asking questions is helpful in case I need to secures additional information and to reaffirm my interest and concern for my spouse. Research shows that practicing these behaviors and especially engaging in emphatic listening helps me to enhance my relationship (Barrett Godfrey, 1988; Snyder, 1992). 3. How can I improve my listening skills with a child? Every parent knows that parenting is hard work. When I became a mother, I realized that I have not always displayed the best listening skills with my son Daniel. Over the years through instruction and practice I have improved my listening skills. Here are the most significant ones that I have found useful and rewarding: it is crucial to let the child know that you are interested in listening to what he/she needs to communicate. Avoid all distraction and fully tune your attention and your body to all his/her verbal and nonverbal communication. Physically get down to the childs level and bring active, emphatic and objective listening styles listening to them and their messages. From a childs prospective it is necessary to feel that the parent is seen as a base to which they can always return when they need help and support. In my experience, whenever I use these types of listening I communicate to my child that he is a valuable person worthy of my time and attention. I also demonstrate that I appreciate, feel, and see his world through his own eyes instead of my own and that I can walk in his shoes and feel the way he feels. Acceptance is paramount here. This is a special time when the child gets to express without being interrupted or judged. It is crucial for parents to do this because they get to create a caring and loving relationship with the child and a positive and supportive environment for their child to grow. 4. How can improve my listening skills with someone I dislike, but need to communicate with? Sometime I encounter a situation where I need to communicate with someone that I make up I dislike. How can I improve my listening skills in these types of situations? Polite listening style is essential here. Politeness may be signaled through listening (Fukushima, 2000). To start I can accept the reality that I need to communicate with this person and the dislike is more about me and is not about the other person. Next, I need to scan my body language that could leak out my attitude. Listening with curiosity and with intent to learn also helps. Show empathy with the speaker. Show that I understand the speakers thoughts and feelings by echoing the feelings of the speaker. (DeVito p.162). The goal here is not to agree with him/her, but to assess what they are trying to express. Finally, give the person consistent feedback to show that I am attentive and they are being listened to. Conclusion: Great communicators are great listeners. Listening is a vital component in communication and in interpersonal communication because it helps us know others. After carefully reading chapter 6 and completing this assignment I come to believe that to improve my relationships with others and increase my overall performance at school or work I must participate in cultivating proven and effective listening skills. This requires effort, openness and a willingness to change a few unhealthy habits with new ones. It is self-evident that by developing a daily practice my relationships and life can benefit increasing my chances of becoming likeable, loveable, friendly and agreeable, and these are all qualities I value and consider worth changing for. Works Cited: DeVito, Joseph A. (2016) The Interpersonal Communication Book 14th edition: Boston: Pearson Education, Inc Barrett, L., Godfrey, T. (1988). Listening. Person Centered Review 3 (November), 410-425

Pertaining to psychology Essay

An article in Psychology Today regarding the concepts of alcoholism as a hereditary factor is analyzed and discussed with attributes to scientific facts and statistical claims. Written by the Psychology Today staff, the article; Is It In The Genes? Driven to drink: Does alcoholism run in the family?, begins by proclaiming that 60% of alcoholics have at least on alcoholic parent. Given this number, the question is then raised as to whether the â€Å"disease† is caused by â€Å"wayward genes or lost dreams.† Though claimed as a mystery, the article foreshadows an answer by stating that studies say both sides may be right. The article states that investigators have concluded that there are two types of alcoholics among men – those with beginnings to alcohol abuse before the age of 25, and those whose disease progresses at later periods in life. Of these two types, those with the early beginnings are more inclined to have incidence of family related alcoholism, which suggests a genetic predisposition. Astonishingly, this particular group is stated to comprise 40% of the estimated million male alcoholics in the United States. Not surprising however, this group is most commonly associated with violent behavior. On the other end of the scale, the men who have shown to become alcoholic later in life show a commonality of less family involvement. Their abuse is attributed more to a sought relief from stress and/or anxiety. Given these results, and the possibility of genetic predispositions, many research studies have been conducted in an effort to single out a common chromosomal defect. Fingers have been pointed at a gene which affects the ability of brain cells to respond to dopamine, which is believed to be a reason that alcoholics abuse alcohol – an unaware effort to boost dopamine levels. Other beliefs sway toward what is called a â€Å"mean gene† that impairs the proper actions of serotonin, a chemical stimulant in the brain. As these studies and the researchers who have concluded them debate about the actual culprit, a recent opinion has been declared by Frederick K. Goodwin, M.D. who is the head of the National Institute of Mental Health. Per the article, Goodwin states that there may be more than one single gene involved with alcoholism, much the same as with diabetes. Goodwin also believes that future research may conclude a common genetic predisposition to a complete host of addictions of any range. In sum, Goodwin believes there may be a common thread among all addicts, but that specific characteristics may perpetuate certain cases. Pertaining to psychology, this article is a fantastic way of raising the questions of psychological issues in addiction. It contradicts the actuality that alcoholism, or addiction altogether, is strictly a sect of the psyche which can be overcome through psychological treatment. This article gives simple, yet concise examples and statistics which proclaim the possibility of hereditary predispositions to alcohol addiction, thus ruling out a strong possibility of psychological defect. Though it could be argued that a psychological predisposition could be genetically evident, the concepts of hereditary factors appear to be more supportive of genetic makeup and not learned behavior, which is a common belief toward alcoholism in European societies. This article is very informative of the most recent approaches toward the diagnostics of alcoholism, and as to where the modern understandings of its illness are derived. In conclusive reaction, this particular article is educational to those who are both aware of the dynamics and characteristics of alcoholics and those completely ignorant of the issue. I am pleased with its content, directive, and overall conveyance of matter. BIBLIOGRAPHY: The PT Staff;   Psychology Today – Is It In the Genes? Driven to drink: Does alcoholism run in the family? Sussex Publishers, LLC 2006

Child Labor Paper Essay

Child labor reached new heights during the Industrial Revolution. Due to this, it lead to an increase in the â€Å"percentage of children ten to fifteen years of age who were gainfully employed. Although the official figure of 1.75 million significantly understates the true number, it indicates that at least 18 percent of these children were employed in 1900. In southern cotton mills, 25 percent of the employees were below the age of fifteen, with half of these children below age twelve† (History). Businesses forced children to work excessive hours in dangerous factory conditions with minimal payment. At an attempt to combat child labor a few steps were taken. The creation of new technologic machinery limited the need for children to fulfill tasks. In addition, businesses required higher levels of education in order to be even considered for the job. Congress created the child labor law in 1938 as another way to combat this issue. Although child labor has mostly been eliminate d it still poses a problem in other areas throughout the world, especially in developing countries. For example, in China children between the ages of 5 and 17 are being taken advantage of through what their government calls â€Å"Educational Labor.† This means that schools would have the ability to make their students grow and harvest crops, but instead most schools â€Å"abuse this law and they end up forcing the children to do a heavy amount of labor† (Sites). The ILO’s Statistical Information and Monitoring Program on Child Labor recently submitted their estimates that 211 million children, or 18 % of children aged 5-14, are economically active worldwide. The two major components of this statistic is Asia, which consists of 60% those working children and Africa, which has 23% child labor. Non-governmental organization, commonly referred to as NGO’s, strongly disapprove of child labor and engage in strong efforts in order to give the children their freedom. They view it as a just act and most people would agree, but they do not think of the negative aspects that arise when the children are no longer employed. As a result, the children and family members go hungry, since they heavily rely on their employment to contribute to the family’s well-being. Additionally, once the NGO’s shut down the sweatshops there are no further actions taken afterwards. Meaning nothing is done in order to ensure the children are taken care of, go back to school, or financially compensated. They simply celebrate the factory closing as a victory and do not realize the big picture. history.com/topics/child-labor sites.google.com/a/tapa.tp.edu.tw/modern-day-slavery/child-labor/child-labor-in-china

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