Unfortunately, we often don’t take the time to focus on the latter part. Often we are already thinking about what we are going to say next and not listening to what is being said to us. This lack of focus occurs in intense, oppositional discussions, but it can also be common in one-on-one conversations and when someone is confiding in us. When we listen, we need to embrace the concept of empathy, meaning you understand what a person might be feeling, and understand why that person’s actions made sense to them at the time. This way our ideas can be communicated in a way that makes sense to others, and it helps us understand others when they communicate with us.
Listening Is a Communication Action
Our communication includes both sending and, especially, receiving messages.
Source & attribution
College Success — The Context of Communication
OpenStax contributors · OpenStax, Rice University
CC BY 4.0. Text excerpted; whitespace normalised and empty cross-references removed; learning prompts added. No illustrations reproduced.
Source edition: 2024-10-16T17:33:40Z
A note to yourself
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