What Kind of a Listener are You?

Oman
February 8, 2011 8:47am CST
We basically have four kinds of listeners. (1) Passive Listeners, (2) Pretending Listeners, (3) Selective Listeners, and (4) Active Listeners. Passive listeners are those who simply listen but don't react or participate at all. Pretending listeners are listeners who from the word "pretend" to listen. Their eyes may be on you but nothing what you said may have sunk in their thoughts. Selective listeners refer to those who simply select ideas which you have shared and only reacts to it where as active listeners are those who emphatically get on with what is being shared. They contribute constructive criticisms and participate actively in the course of the discussion. Brilliant ideas are shared thus resulting to a more interactive and objective-attained session/sharing. Which then of the four kinds of listeners are you?
4 responses
@megamatt (14292)
• United States
8 Feb 11
Most of the time I aspire to be an active listener. Sure not everything I am going to be hearing is going to be up to my tastes. However, that is just one of the things that you have to deal with in life. I say that I aspire to be an active listener(and most of the time I am) but there are times where I tend to drift in between being passive and selective, depending on the mood. I do try to listen but like I said, there are times where I am going to drift. There are times where we are going to be in a bad mood or a tired mood. Therefore it is a bit tricky to really listen. I attempt to bring myself up, to really listen to what I need to do. Because you never know when you might hear something that is vital for your life. Sometimes if you shut your mouth and open your ears and really listen, you can hear something great.
1 person likes this
• United States
15 Feb 11
I'm an active listener. i like responding to people, you know just give my opinion or share some advice, i like sharing my ideas..,.
• Oman
15 Feb 11
I sing the same song as yours. I find contentment when I was able to share something I know and have. Giving someone a piece of my mind is doubled joy for me as sharing one's burdens and griefs is lessened for me.
@DYAMIGA (64)
• Philippines
9 Feb 11
welll im awed by this inquisition but i would say ,y being a listener depends on my mood because i do some of the kinds in many ways so i would say i am of the four kinds.
@shrijsr (574)
• Bangalore, India
8 Feb 11
hello mate, First of all, welcome to mylot. I hope you are having a good time here around! Well, coming to your discussion, I'm an active listener. Well, I really don't pretend basically because, I don't do things because I have to do it. I'm like that. So if I'm not interested, I would rather change the topic or i'll divert the person in a different and a more diplomatic way. But i definitely make sure that the other person doesn't feel bad about it! I also make sure that I don't really miss out on anything. I don't want to break the trust of the person who actually thinks that I'm listening and will share the happiness or sorrow or anything for that matter! I made this mistake of actually once being a passive listener and I found out that the other person speaking felt really bad about it because she din't have the feeling that I'm interested and she felt guilty of boring me, which is actually not true! Just that I din't find anything apt to speak at that moment! Other than that, I can definitely say that I'm a passive listener and I have the patience to even listen to the same things even if it is said more than 1000 times to me! Thanks to the almighty because my friend really feels good to tell me the same things because I listen to her no matter how many times she has said me the same thing before. I'm proud of being a Passive listener! :) Cheers! see you around! :)