Blog 1 - Kyle Cady - Hearing vs. Listening

Kyle Cady

Comm 160

Section 001

Journal 1

Sentence: Everyone has had the experience of listening to someone say something totally off the mark, maybe because this person isn’t listening to you in the first place and so misunderstanding what you mean or maybe because he or she isn’t really knowledgeable but, for some reason, feels the need to talk anyway. (Fassett, Warren, 2015).

In this journal, I decided to talk about the concept of listening as described on page 50 in the textbook. Listening, as simple and precise as it sounds, is actually quite complex. There are so many subtle forms of listening that when used together enhance the idea of listening. Everyone likes to say they are good listeners, but they don’t always understand what it means to actually be a good listener. There is a difference between listening and hearing when engaging in any form of interaction with another person. From my point of view, I understand listening as a deeper, more intelligent, and more genuine gesture. It comes down to the little things in an interaction such as: body language, tone, interference, eye contact and ultimately understanding the message the speaker is trying to convey.

In my life, I have had many interactions where I have failed to fully immerse myself in a conversation or interaction and I ended up missing the message completely. Since learning what it means to be a good/active listener, I have been able to be more in depth in my understandings. Being a good listener takes more than just nodding your head in agreement. It takes the ability to understand each of the individual factors as a whole and then put them to use in an interaction. Conversations become more emotional, meaningful, and conclusive.

One particular interaction I recall very well, was the moment my father wanted to take my 2015 Harley-Davidson out on a ride. MY BIKE!!! At first I was like “hell no!!” My dad and I grew up riding dire bikes together but this would have been his first time on a street legal motorcycle that is well above average in the performance department, and not to mention 600lbs dry weight. During the conversation leading up to this nervous moment in my life, I had a discussion with him in my garage as I was explaining everything about the bike and the gear I was going to let him borrow. This happened right in my garage, just feet from where he would be pulling out of the driveway. He was a little unstable as he began to pull away. It freaked me out at first but when I saw him doing things on the bike, that I had just described to him moments earlier, I knew he had been listening. I really appreciated the fact that he knew how important the bike is to me and put forth an effort into listening to what I had to say about how to properly handle a bike that is significantly different from a 200lb dirt bike. That is one of my favorite moments in my life: seeing my dad cruise up and down the street in my leathers and helmet as he smiled from ear to ear and twisted the throttle out of the turns.

Outside Link: http://www.livestrong.com/article/83661-difference-between-hearing-listening/

References

Warren, J. T., & Fassett, D. L. (2015). Communication: A critical/cultural

            introduction. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.