Listening Essay, Research Paper

Listening, for the most part, is the key aspect in having good interpersonal communication with another individual. As stated in the book and during class discussion, the best listeners are those who transform themselves from speaker to listener. One individual that I believe whom actually makes this transformation and the person I decided to interview was my mother. She is a registered nurse at a hospital in Galesburg. I went down there this past Friday to interview her on what she thought about the importance of listening in the workplace but also in life. I chose my mother for this interview because her profession requires her to be a good listener in order to be successful. Listening to patients, doctors, and her superiors, are all key aspects of her profession. By interviewing this individual, I hope I can pick up some information the will make myself a better listener. I began this interview by asking my mother when she believed she started to develop her good listening skills. Although not able to recall exactly when, she stated that coming from a large family listening to her parents between the commotion was difficult. This difficulty made her concentrate harder and in turn this would sharpen her listening skills. Being able to block out the noise, she stated, was one of the first aspects of listening that she accomplished. Also, this listening first and speaking afterwards would become very valuable in the future. She stated that the people in her family who did not abide by this theory had many more problems in their listening development through childhood. The next area I focused in my interview was to ask what characteristics make up a good listener. She stated that the first characteristic that needed to be present was empathy. Working with patients in a hospital, listening and empathizing with them are characteristics that are needed by all nurses she stated. Another characteristic that she believed that was a very important aspect of being a good listener was acquiring the skill of note taking. She said that this skill was obviously important in her profession but also in her everyday activities. She stated that, even when she is talking on the phone to an important individual, taking notes about the conversation was very valuable in remembering the discussion. Taking notes helps an individual to listen better by not putting all the pressure of the conversation solely on the ears and short-term memory.

Although being a good listener is a good idea almost one hundred percent of the time, the person I interviewed stated that there have been instances that by being a good listener problems have arisen. She stated that, when in the workplace, listening to all the patients whims and complaints is not always the correct thing to do. She made the point that there has been a few instances where certain patients have tried to trick her to go against doctor s orders. She said that this happens rarely but listening to these individuals at that time and place would have been a mistake. By interviewing an individual who is a good listener, I believe, that the information gathered can only be helpful to the interviewer. I chose my mother for this interview because in her profession listening is crucial . Although we have studied about listening in the past few weeks, actually interviewing a good listener brings everything into perspective and can be only beneficial in the future.