Activity 3.2.3 A Talker or a Listener?

Purpose

To develop listening skills

Materials

None

Time

1–2 hrs

Method

1. Instruct participants to choose a partner so that the whole class is divided into pairs. If one person is left over, that participant can team up with the facilitator.
2. Explain to participants that they are going to take turns talking to each other to find out how well they can listen. Participants are to talk for three minutes about his or her parents, telling what is important about them. After three minutes, they change roles and the listener becomes the talker and vice versa.
3. When the person is talking, they should not be interrupted with questions. Instruct participants who are listening, to simply nod and listen.
4. When both partners have had their turns, explain that they are now going to find out how well they listened.
5. The listener now tells the talker how he/she feels about his or her parents. When this is done, the talker decides whether or not it was recalled accurately. They now reverse the roles and the other partner goes through the same process.

   Questions for discussion:

   1. Did you prefer to be the talker or the listener? Why?
   2. Do you listen to other people as well as you listened to this partner?
   3. Were you surprised when your partner was able (or not able) to accurately recall your feelings about your parents?
   4. How much listening do you think takes place on a bus, or in a busy restaurant?
   5. Can people tell you things other than what they say in words using body language, tone, and expression of voice?
6. Have participants repeat the exercise with a new partner and a new topic. Each talker now gives a complete description of himself/herself for three minutes. When both partners have had their turn, they should write down the answer to this question: What did each person feel were the most important qualities about the other person?
7. As an alternative, the facilitator could single out one participant and purposely tell him/her to ignore the partner while he/she is talking. Then have a discussion about how the “slighted” partner felt when he/she was not listened to.