Fundamental Human Communication: Group Presentations
The Bad Listener Activity Purpose To point out to students that when they engage in bad listening practices others notice. Also, this exercise helps foster empathy by putting students in the shoes of one who is on the receiving end of poor listening practices. Time Required 1520 minutes with processing Instructions 1. Have students break into pairs. Have them decide whos A and whos B. 2. A will spend 34 minutes talking to B about what they would do if they won the lottery. 3. B will practice glazing over, pseudolistening, and using the occasional shiftresponses (review all of these with class). B should look bored and uninterested. A must persist despite Bs bad behavior. 4. Switch roles and repeat the process. Discussion Points 1. Solicit from the class how it felt to be treated so poorly in a communication setting. Ask if this has ever happened to them in real life. How did it feel? 2. Point out that most people have no problem acting out the role of a poor listener. Unfortunately, most of us have had ample practice. 3. Discuss how poor listening hinders the communication process and contributes to feelings of ill will toward the bad listener. 4. Encourage students to monitor themselves and their own listening behavior in the future.