Baelyn Rackey

Professor Jamie Johnston

Communication 1010

February 24, 2024

ePortfolio Reflection: Listening Skills

1.) 4 6.) 4

2.) 3 7.) 5

3.) 4 8.) 5

4.) 4 9.) 5

5.) 5 10.) 4

Total Score out of 50: 43

Reflection

Prompt:

Do you believe you are an effective listener? Why or why not? Use what you learned in Chapter

5 as evidence for your answer.

How has listening and empathy played a positive or negative role in your relationships and

interactions with others? How might you improve?

 After going through chapter 5 and the provided listening skills test, I found myself to be a

little bit more versed within this topic than last week. Listening is something that is often

overlooked and is something that I personally have put a lot of time and effort into to try and

become a better listener. After taking my listening skills test and replying to the prompt as honest

as I thought I could be I found myself ranking a 43/50 which means that I can be a pretty

proficient listener. I was not always a good listener, in fact I actually was a very bad listener and

it took me many years of therapy and personal development to get to the point that I am at now. I

think that communication can be tricky especially when it comes to the listening part. And what

helped me the most was just to become more aware. Awareness and Acknowledgement are key

fundamentals that I practiced in order to reach the stage I am currently at.

Becoming a better listener has helped me in many ways, but ultimately it has helped me

become a better communicator just by simply listening rather than talking. Actively listening to

what someone has to say before adding in a little thought or interrupting them before they get

their point across is a sign of someone who has a harder time listening. By taking the back seat

often times it allows you to see the bigger picture and better understand the material they are

communicating to you, and will ultimately help you become a better communicator by hearing

out the other person giving you time to think about a response and also allows you to be more

fluent with the material you are presented with. I will be continuing my communication journey

by practicing and looking at myself from an objective standpoint and to listen to those around me

who I might value their opinions of me.