My Listening Skills - Essay Sample

Introduction

By analyzing our current human interaction, it is evident that there is a significant shift in how information is structured, conveyed, and perceived. Among the critical agents of this shift in technology. As stated by Bowman & Klopping (1999), there has been an exponential increase in the technological capacity to store, transmit, and retrieve information. In this regard, due to the COVID 19 pandemic, I have been spending most of my days in my apartment where the only physical interactions I have been with my Girlfriend, Caren. Other interactions are mainly virtual through phone calls and on video calling platforms such as zoom and skype.

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Today, I woke up to my favorite Imagine Dragons' pop playlist, which also doubles my alarm tone. I find their music inspiring and more relatable since most of it centers on Love and self-growth. Being my go-to playlist, I am well conversant with most of their lyrics, and I make a point to fully understand the lyrism, theme, and purpose of every song.

Makeover

After a quick bath, I joined Caren in the dining room for breakfast. My routine is to take breakfast while watching the news on CNN and catching up with the day's trends on Twitter. During breakfast, Caren explained the progress and ideas she had for her new home art-desk makeover DIY project, showing me detailed plans that she had sketched in her laptop, stating what supplies and equipment she needed and where to shop for them. I didn't comprehend all this information since the news continuously distracted me—besides, the art terminologies regarding the tools and supplies were relatively new.

At around 9:45 am, I readied myself for my online philosophy class, which is usually held over Zoom video calls three times a week. I maintained close attention during this since the Midterm exams were a few days away, and I didn't want to miss any critical information. This was also the case at 2:00 pm during my two hours Spanish class. My listening during this class was not very high since Spanish is a bit tricky, for it is not my native language. Additionally, I was continuously distracted by the noise from Caren's project. In the evening, Caren and I took some time to catch up with our close family and friends over skype before dinner. Also, we had a casual conversation over dinner before retiring to bed.

Based on all my day's interactions, it is clear that I, like anyone else, have a few listening strengths and weaknesses. For starters, my main strength is my well-developed appreciative listening skills. As explained by Wolvin and Coakley (2000), appreciative listening is a listening process meant for enjoyment and sensory stimulation. This explains the mental and emotional satisfaction I derive from my morning alarm playlist.

Conclusion

Other than external factors such as distractions and the language barrier, my primary weakness is my ability to concentrate. Concentrations require both mental preparedness and physical behaviors such as maintaining eye contact, physical proximity, and verbal following, as concluded by O'Heren & Arnold (1991). However, to improve my listening skill, I'll need to be a "Scopic" listener, i.e., take a keen interest in other people and new ideas. Also, seeking opportunities to expose me to new and challenging materials in areas that I have limited knowledge on would enhance my listening skills

References

Bowman, J. P., & Klopping, I. (1999). Bandstands, bandwidth, and business communication: Technology and the sanctity of writing. Business Communication Quarterly, 62(1), 82-90. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/108056999906200108

O'Heren, L., & Arnold, W. E. (1991). Nonverbal attentive behavior and listening comprehension. International Journal of Listening, 5(1), 86-92.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1207/s1932586xijl0501_6

Wolvin, A. D., & Coakley, C. G. (2000). Listening education in the 21st century. International Journal of Listening, 14(1), 143-152.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10904018.2000.10499040.