Examples Of Mindful Listening

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Throughout everyday life, individuals will be faced with the challenge of distractions. How one chooses to deal with these distractions determines the level of effectiveness at which they can communicate. Choosing to ignore these distractions can be very beneficial to one’s communication and attentiveness, resulting in a more productive exchange between communicators. While having a good sense of communication is very important, the ability to mindfully listen is just as important for effective communication. One instance where failure to mindfully listen can drastically effect a relationship, is within a family. Over the weekend, I was able to witness this within a conversation between my dad and my sister. Throughout the conversation, they …show more content…
One very important aspect of mindful listening that my dad failed to demonstrate is eye contact. Eye contact signifies to the communicator that the listener is fully engaged and tuned in to what they are saying. Throughout the conversation between my dad and my sister, my dad kept his eyes locked on his computer, which in turn, made my sister feel as though he was disinterested in what she had to say. While it is possible that he was fully tuned in to what my sister was saying while still looking at the computer, by not making eye contact, my sister perceived my dad’s attitude as detached and uninvolved, resulting in the first failure of this …show more content…
This in many cases, correlates heavily with eye contact and eliminating distractions. In order to show full attentiveness to the communicator, the listener must display nonverbal signs of involvement. These signs include head nods, as well as an engaged posture and body language. While observing the conversation between my dad and my sister, I was able to notice that my dad failed to perform even just one of these nonverbal cues of involvement. Instead, he continued to type on his laptop and not provide any sense of nonverbal engagement to my sister and what she was trying to

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