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4.6: Discussion Questions

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    1. Your chapter notes that students spend a large portion of their communication time listening. Where do you think your own listening time is highest (classroom, online, work, relationships), and what specific habits help or hurt you there?
    2. The text distinguishes hearing (automatic) from listening (focused, voluntary, intentional). Describe a recent situation where you were “hearing” but not “listening.” What changed when you shifted to active listening behaviors?
    3. Considering the five stages (receiving, understanding, remembering, evaluating, responding), which stage do you find most challenging and why? What concrete steps could you take this week to strengthen that stage?
    4. In public speaking, how can a speaker listen to the audience in real time? Give two tactics (e.g., reading nonverbal cues, paraphrasing questions) and explain how each tactic would change your delivery.
    5. Biases and anxiety can derail listening. Identify one bias or apprehension trigger you’ve experienced. What language choices or structural choices (definitions, previews, visuals) from a speaker would help you stay engaged—and what listener strategies can you use on your end?

    4.6: Discussion Questions is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

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