Communication Strategies

    My newly developed communication behavior is strengthening my listening skills. Listening is one of the important aspects of communication as communication is a two-way process that involves two persons interacting with each other. I have a very talkative nature and sometimes I forgot to lend an ear to those I talk with. I would like to try to sit down and listen and preventing myself in talking too much. I noted three different scenarios wherein I tried and observed my improved listening in these situations. First, my sister and I talked over the phone one day, which is very unusual since we are all engrossed in our busy lives. She recounted to me some of her problems at school at back at home. I listened intently and I was able to give her a very sound advice. The second scenario is when I was working with a group for a class assignment. In the group, we try to brainstorm on what are going to do with the project assigned to us. We listen to each members suggestion and everyone is given a chance to talk. Because of this process, we came up with a fruitful deliberation of what The third scenario is in the classroom setting wherein the professor is conducting the class in interpersonal setting. The subject is one of my least favorite subjects in school. I experience a hard time listening and absorbing what my professor is saying since I am not really interested in the subject.
7B.

What seemed to work for you
Improving my listening skills helped me a lot in improving my communication and interaction with other people. Listening is one of the most important aspects of human communication and it is of vital importance that I am able to listen on what the other participant is saying. Listening worked for me for it strengthens my communication skills, especially my empathy towards other people.

What did not seem to work
I notice that even though I tried so hard in improving my listening skills, there are times that I failed to really listen and understand what the other people is saying. For example, in the third situation, wherein I am in the class and my professor is teaching a lesson, since I am not deeply interested in the subject I find it hard to really listen and understand the lesson. I found out that effective listening includes interest in what you are listening to.

In what situations were you most successful
I believe that I am successful in the first situation wherein I listened intently on my sisters problems and I was able to give her an advice in resolving her problems. For me, that was effective listening since I understood what the other person is saying and assessed the message for a better solicited feedback in the form of advice.

What behaviors would you like to perform again
Listening is a beneficial communication behavior. I am planning to adopt this behavior in performing my everyday communication and interaction. I believe that through this communication behavior, I will be able to come up with fruitful communication exchange with anyone.
What will you do differently the next time

I was unsuccessful in listening to topics that I am not interested with. I will try to further improve my listening skill even in things that I am not interested with but are important in the communication process. Moreover, I also aim to improve my non-verbal communication. Non-verbal communication is communication in absence of the spoken language. This may be essential in assessing the real motives and feelings of the participants of the communication process.