There are many activities that can be done to practice listening and non-verbal communications skills

There are many activities that can be done to practice listening and non-verbal communications skills. Many of you may have participated in these ice breaker types of activities in traditional classrooms or at business meetings or even through organization-wide training. However, those activities are generally done in person. In this discussion we are going to view some good examples of listening and some bad examples.

To begin this discussion, we are going to watch a video clip that demonstrates bad listening.

• Big Bang Theory TV Show. (2012, November 16).Bad Listeners (Links to an external site.).  [Video file, 02:51 min]

Based on your opinion and what you have learned over this term:

• What are some of the barriers to active listening that can be identified in this video? How can communications between Sheldon and Leonard be improved?

Next, watch the following two videos about active listening.

• Everybody Loves Raymond. (2011, October 5). Active Listening Clip 1 (Links to an external site.).  [Video file, 4:02 min]
• Parent Effectiveness Training. (2013, February 21).Everybody Loves Raymond Uses Active Listening - from Parent Effectiveness Training (Links to an external site.)  [Video file, 2:57 min]

Now, let’s discuss these questions one at a time, and applying what we have learned in this week’s readings and videos as we go:

• What lessons were learned in the first Raymond video that were applied to the second video?
• How are listening skills important to employees, supervisors, and managers?
• Across the three videos, what struck you in terms of body language? Were there examples of excellent body language that demonstrated listening? How about anything that might negatively impact communications?
• Earlier this term, we explored cross-cultural communications. What are some considerations for demonstrating active listening and non-verbal communication with people from different cultures?

This discussion will be graded using a rubric. Please review this rubric prior to beginning the discussion. You can view the rubric by clicking on "Discussion Rubric" on the Course Rubrics page within the Start Here module. All discussions combined are worth 30% of your final course grade.

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