January Blog Post

The topic that i enjoyed the most from January was the concept of Compassionate critical listening. Effective listening is something that i have practiced the past couple years. It all started for me when i took my first communication class. I remember having active listening explained to me and i knew that most people were not good listeners but this concept finally gave me a reference point. One sentence from chapter 4 stood out to me. The sentence reads, "Contexts shape expectations of socially or culturally appropriate modes of listening." The reason i found this to be so important is because i feel like this is a concept this is overlooked by most people, including myself. The way that i interpret that sentence is that the context in which the conversation exists, decides the correct way people should listen and overall communicate. For example, a classroom, especially a class that typically lectures, the appropriate type of listening would be a one way, focused active listening. in this context, the listeners are their to simply gather information. They are not expected to give their own information. this is a context that requires different forms of listening and communication. Another example would be a time when a friend came to you with a pressing problem in their life. in a situation like that you would have to be more compassionate and be ready to ready and interpret emotions and other aspects of communication that may not be part of a lecture hall situation. Different contexts require different forms of listening and communication. In my opinion this is a very important way of understanding how culture and situation will effect communication. That is why i chose this sentence specifically. I feel that if someone can grasp this context it will make them a more efficient and more empathetic communicator.