Be Mindful (Guideline for Effective Listening)

One concept from throughout the semester that I feel can be used in further discussion is to be mindful in terms of when it comes to guidelines for effective listening. It is central to effective listening. According to our text, "mindfulness is a choice to be wholly present in an experience. It requires that we put aside preoccupations and preconceptions to attend fully to what is happening in the moment"(Wood, 2010, pg.164). I feel and believe this concept is one I will use on a daily basis now and for the future because as we learned in the text, listening is just as important even more important than talking. I have always been the type of person who always likes to talk and I also like to listen, however I am not that great of a mindful listener. I feel there are times depending who I am talking to and who is talking to me, I may not be fully paying attention to everything they are saying. That can sometimes lead to conflict or confusion because that person may have said something really important and because I was not mindfully listening, completely paying attention to what they were saying, I missed out on something that either could have been helpful to know or something that was important to that person and it seemed as if I ignored them, which is not the case.

I want to become a more mindful listener because if I am not fully present in the moment, in the future if I am at a job and someone important is talking for example, I may end up missing an important point they made because I was not fully (mindfully) listening.

I think if maybe if this was emphasized more by doing an activity or assignment where we could test ourselves by conducting an experiment on if we listen to a conversation or a speech or lecture mindfully versus take part in certain nonlistening tactics, to see the difference and compare and contrast them, and to see what works and does work. Overall, I feel listening is a crucial element in any given relationship.

Favorite vs Least Favorite Thing About Class

My favorite thing about this class was actually more than just one thing. I really enjoyed the weekly posts and being able to see what my colleagues had to say about each topic and question and being able to receive feedback from three different colleagues something I enjoyed. I thought the three different papers all provided different information and aspects on interpersonal communication and how human relationships vary from cultures, how they are in our own lives, and how they can be perceived in the media. I thought all three papers provided insight on how relationships develop and how through different relationships poses different challenges, as well as positive occurrences as well.

I do not have a least favorite thing about this class, however I believe this class can be improved by if one of the paper assignments could be a group project, or a partner effort or if we had an assignment that required collaboration with another colleague(s) because that way we could also use and develop the interpersonal communication skills from our class with our colleagues as well. That is the only thing I felt how this class can be improved, otherwise I like and enjoyed this class as it is.

What I've Learned From This Class

Over the course of the semester, I have learned so many new concepts about communication and human relationships in regards to interpersonal communication. I have learned more than just the basics of interpersonal communication which was great because during this semester I was also taking an interpersonal communication. So it was nice to be able to relate back and forth between both of the courses and compare and contrast and see what was similar about interpersonal communication. I learned about communication and personal identity and what the self is. I learned and perception and communication and how perception is influenced. I discovered the difference between verbal and nonverbal communication, and the different types of each. I especially enjoyed the chapter on mindful listening because in this chapter, forms of nonlistening were discussed as well as guidelines for effective listening which was a great resource and tool for me to be aware of since I have been working on my listening skills for most of my life. I like to listen however, have had a hard time at times of taking place in selective listening, and that is something I would like and have improved on since taking this course. I have also learned in depth about emotions and communication which was also a helpful tool because there are many times I out someone else's emotions before mine because I pay attention to how someone may feel or what their emotions are, and from this chapter I was able to gain being in tune with my own emotions. I have also learned about managing conflict in relationships, as well as friendships in our lives, committed romantic relationships, and communication in families which all helped me to be able to improve my relationships within my family and friendships.

Overall, all the concepts from this class I have learned throughout the semester, I will and have applied to my daily life and will continue to.