Interpersonal Communication: Everyday Encounters
I once had to listen to a man who was attending the same party that my family (father, mother, and siblings) were listening. As the speaker took the podium to speak, I realized that we were distracted. It was evident that only our parents were listening to what the speaker was saying. Personally, I could not make head or tail of what the speaker was saying. I had appeared to listen, but I did not get anything because I was not attentive. At some point, people would laugh, possibly because of something funny or interesting the speaker had said. It was only a few of us, including my sibling that did not have anything to laugh about because we failed to get the joke. From reading the text, I realize that we were actually practicing pseudo listening in which case we were only pretending to be listening, but in reality, our minds were away (Wood, 2015). Therefore, most of what was being said just passed us. When I got a chance to listen towards the end, I realized that the speaker was actually insightful and full of knowledge.
The outcome of the situation was that I did not get the chance to learn from the very great ideas that the speaker had to share. It was worse because I could not get anyone to tell me what the speaker was sharing because my parents believed that we were attentive. Apparently, even my siblings were destructed and did not get the message being passed by the speaker. The aspect of non-listening amidst us cost us the chance to learn from the very insightful speaker. It is unfortunate because the opportunity was once in a lifetime and was unlikely to be repeated. I tried asking my sibling what they had made out of the message and realized that like myself, they were engaging in pseudo listening. We all looked attentive, but we all did not understand (Wood, 2015). I was thinking and planning another engagement that I had. I took most of the time when people were silent to plan for other engagements. Indeed, this came at the cost of getting the chance to learn from the speaker. If I did, I now know that I would have left the function a more informed and knowledgeable person.
The fact that a lot of the information did not get into my head and that I did not get the chance to learn from the speaker has provided me the chance to reflect. I have reflected and realized what I would have done differently. I have come to the realization that nothing is insignificant no matter how it seems. I have also learned that there is no other time than the present to learn from others. Once such a chance is lost, it is hard to recover it. I should have been more focused and listened to all the details of the conversation (Wood, 2015). Next time, I will do things differently. I will not ignore anything that the other person has to say, no matter how insignificant I would consider the information. In conclusion, I have gained important insights that I will apply in future. I will not allow my mind to be distracted by anything when someone is speaking. I will always focus because there is something that I can get to learn.