Deep listening does not come naturally to us, although we often think it does. Listening is more than just hearing. Listening is a skill that needs to be learned and practiced and technology often adds to our difficulty in listening to one another.
To prepare for you own deep listening activity please watch:
Dave Isay: Everyone around you has a story the world needs to hearLinks to an external site.
Part 2- For journal: To cultivate deep listening as a skill, a simple exercise you can try is the “dyad.” Come up with a specific question you and another person will reflect on. Then, take turns talking for 3 to 4 minutes about what authentically arises for you. Try and go for about 20 to 30 minutes. When its your turn you can respond to what the other person said in their 3-4 minutes. You do not need to write down your conversation for the journal.
Sample Questions:
What does it mean to be fully human? How would a full human communicate?
Do I have enough time to think? When and where do I do my best thinking? What if I had all the time in the world to think? What would I think about/do? How can I make more time in my life for thinking about what is important to me?
What is my role in creating change? If I could change anything in the world what would it be and what would I do to start change?
Can I be fearless? What are my fears? How can they be overcome? What would motivate me to overcome my fears?
What is the relationship I want with the earth? How do my actions affect the earth for future generations?
When it’s your turn to listen, listen to discover what the other person is telling you – some have described this kind of listening as listening to learn, rather than listening to respond. Maintain eye contact (you don’t have to stare without blinking -just have normal quality eyecontact), even if the speaker looks away, but don’t respond with words. Affirmations like “uh huh” or “I see,” and non-verbal cues to show you are tuned in are fine.
Journal Directions:
Write the normal 2 page reflection on your deep listening conversation. Make sure you use class vocabulary and define those relevant terms to comment about the process of communication not the content you discussed with your partner.
Questions to write about:
What types of listening functions did you employ? Any faulty listening? Any times you were just hearing and not listening?
What was difficult about this activity? What was easy?
What type of listening style is your primary style and did it impact this activity?
What role did nonverbal communication play in this conversation? What nonverbals were you displaying? What nonverbal was your partner displaying?
What did you learn from this activity? What do you want to change about your listening for the future.