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Journal Reflection Chapter 7 - Listening

Listening is vital to interpersonal communication, without listening there would be no such thing. In the textbook, there are four listening styles: action-oriented, time-oriented, people-oriented, and content-oriented. Understanding what type of listener you are can help improve your listening skills thus improving interpersonal communication competence. There are factors that naturally influence your listening styles such as gender and culture. Not only is it important to take into consideration you're own influences but others as well. 

For example, time-oriented listeners "prefer brief and concise encounters" and frequently acknowledge the time (McCornack & Morrison, 2019, p.187-188). This can be interpreted as rude for those communicating however context matters and this listening style could have been learned or is preferred by the listener. My mother is very much a time-oriented listener and frequently asks me when I will get to the point (which annoys me). For me, it feels like she isn't focused on what I am saying. So I can understand why others may have a difficult time talking to someone who is time-oriented. Action listening is another listening style I find difficult to communicate with. Sometimes I would prefer someone to just listen whereas someone who is action-oriented wants to just find the solution. To reiterate, it is important to understand what type of listener you and others are in order to improve interpersonal communication. 











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