2.+Listening+Skills

= Listening Skills =

2. Active Listening Exercise:
(Adapted from http://www.trainingzone.co.uk/item/167010)
 * Divide the group into pairs, A & B
 * Take B's out of the room

Address the A's -
"While you are listening to your partner, do the following: - everytime your partner says something that evokes your "inner voice" i.e. you want to ask a question, makes you think about something etc... put your hand up for 5 seconds then put it back down. You can also lose focus, i.e. start staring out the window, become transfixed with the detail on their partner's jacket, etc... another obvious distraction to their listening. Do this for the entire conversation. You are not allowed to interact with B's, ask questions, affirm understanding etc.. You must remain silent, just raise your hand everytime your inner voice kicks in."

Address the B's outside -
"You are to speak to the A's about something of interest, an experience, your last holiday - anything positive that has happened to you in the last 6 months. You will have 3 minutes to talk."

Ask B's back into the room -
- put on the timer then allow 3 minutes of talking from B's

Review
At the end of the 3 minutes ask the B's how they felt while talking to A, emotions evoked etc... General answers back are normally "didn't feel listened too, didn't understand why they were putting their hand up, lost my train of thought because they obviously weren't listening" etc.

Re-run
Run the exercise again, this time allowing the A's to interact, ask questions, become involved in the conversation etc... and compare the two conversations, which was more satisfying etc...

3. What Did You Learn?
Make a new wiki page called **2. Listening Skills** Answer these questions: - What tips did you learn about being a 'good listener'? - What are some 'bad listening' behaviours? - What do you need to work on?