Assessing Your Non-Verbal and Listening Communication Skills

Posted: August 27th, 2021

Assessing Your Non-Verbal and Listening Communication Skills

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Assessing Your Non-Verbal and Listening Communication Skills

            Regarding relational listening, analytic listening, task listening, and critical listening, my scores are 15, 18, 27, and 17, respectively. However, my younger sister’s scores are 20, 22, 20, and 27 regarding the enlisted order of listening skills. In contrast, the score on my non-verbal communication cues is 12, whereas my younger sister’s score is 19 for the six listed items. 

            While relational listening skills of my younger sister and me have few similarities, we exhibit numerous differences in the other three listening-type skills. For example, my sister and I demonstrate a lower score on relational listening than average because we rarely attempt to establish a rapport with a speaker. Instead, we tend to focus centrally on their thoughts and ideas. On the contrary, we express divergent views on the task and critical listening skills (Listening, 2021). While my sister does not concentrate on thoughts and ideas, I would not mind having speakers taking too long to embark on their agendas and I prefer speakers who rush to the main ideas. My desire to have speakers jump to main ideas has occasionally clouded my ability to spot inconsistencies in their talks. This approach reflects the lack of relation between the beginning and the end in a logical way since the listener prefers the speaker not to show the entire process of reasoning (Weerasinghe & Thisera, 2015). Therefore, I would not notice any contradictions in a speaker’s topics as much as my sister would do. I think that my sister manages to monitor closely for any inconsistencies and contradictions in a speaker’s talk because she pays more attention to a person’s non-verbal communication cues than I do. Although I have strength in maintaining eye contact with a speaker to help me comprehend the discussed points, I do not have positive skills in relational listening. I only listen to understand the ideas or offer my critiques concerning the matter of discussion. In this regard, most speakers would not prefer to bond with me because I ask them many critical questions.

            To be an effective communicator, I need to start learning both the relational and task listening skills to reinforce my limiting non-verbal cues. Firstly, I would have to unlearn my stressful critique approach of talking to speakers. By becoming more engaging and accepting, a listener can benefit from the communication (Bucata & Rizescu, 2017). I believe that such prefaces would help me establish a better rapport with speakers, improving my ability to listen attentively. Likewise, I would have to focus less on the speaker’s errors and instead concentrate on the mood and tone. Understanding the circumstances surrounding speakers without prejudging them on their sentiments is a critical element of communication (MasterClass, 2020). Besides, setting this practical communication goal would fruitfully assist me at school, home, and my future workplace. As I take time to listen keenly to my family members, it would help foster confidence and trust in our conversation. Therefore, many friends at school would get confident to have an open talk since I would have learned to give them ample space to express their ideas freely. Indeed, I have realized that avoiding all kinds of distractions and remaining focused throughout a talk would help me demonstrate consistent body language. Hence, it would lead to an adequate bonding with speakers.

References

Bucata, G., & Rizescu, A. M. (2017). The role of communication in enhancing the work effectiveness of an organization. Land Forces Academy Review, 22(1), 1-56. https://www.doi:10.1515/raft-2017-0008.

Listening. (2021, September 12). Listening outcomes. https://sites.google.com/austincc.edu/interpersonaloer/unit-7-listening/module-2-listening-types-and-habits

MasterClass. (2020, November 8). 7 types of listening: How listening styles help you communicate. https://www.masterclass.com/articles/how-listening-styles-help-you-communicate

Weerasinghe, D. T., & Thisera, R. T. (2015). Keys to effective listening and presenting: An action plan. Kelaniya Journal of Human Resource Management, 9(1-2), 33. https://www.doi:10.4038/kjhrm.v9i1-2.11.