Elizabeth is in class and taking notes by copying what is written on the powerpoint. When the professor asks her to recall information from the lecture to answer a question, Elizabeth cannot recall anything. What type of listening did Elizabeth fail to use?

Rachel has made an appointment with a financial planner to decide how she should best diversify her savings to reach her goals. What type of listening should Rachel employ during her meeting?

Alice has been having trouble remembering important concepts from class. As she looks over her notes, she notices that she simply wrote the powerpoint notes down, rather than synthesizing them to identify the goal, main ideas, and structure of the content. After a while, Alice decides to take notes in outline form with the key objectives for the day at the top of her notes. What component of active listening is Alice demonstrating?

Over Thanksgiving, Chae's family is discussing politics. Chae disagrees with his uncle and does not give what his uncle has to say much weight. In fact, most of the time that his uncle speaks, Chae gets angry and is already prepared with his rebuttal. What component of active listening will help Chae to be a better active listener?

Eduardo is involved in a difficult conversation with a colleague in a team meeting. They disagree with each other about how to move forward with a client who has a problem. Although Eduardo is frustrated, he uses his skills to actively listen to his colleague with an open-mind and try to find common ground. How can this approach to the conversation impact Eduardo’s career?

Kimberly is taking a public speaking class with her friend, Cory. They ride together to each class and sit next to each other but Cory actively listens while Kimberly only writes down what the powerpoint says and studies it later. They both spend the same amount of time preparing their speeches but Cory does much better. What academic benefit from active listening helped Cory to perform better?

Daniel works from home. During the workday, his children often come into his office to complain about a sibling or share a story with him. Often, Daniel simply gives a quick answer while continuing her work. This leads to his children interrupting him even more or misbehaving to get his attention. What can Daniel do differently to ensure that his children feel acknowledged while still doing what he needs to for work?

Carl thinks his history teacher doesn’t know what he’s talking about. During a lecture, he gave wrong information about the sequence of events that led to WWI. Carl figured that if his teacher didn’t know something that so many other people knew, that his teacher doesn’t know anything. How has Carl’s judgment created a barrier to listening?

Kyle was meeting his new neighbor, Zach, when Zach mentioned that he was in the insurance business. As the conversation progressed, Kyle stopped providing information and details about his life and instead tried to think of ways to end the conversation. How has Kyle’s judgement created a barrier to listening?

Elise has hearing difficulties and cannot tune out background noise. She is starting a new semester and wants to make sure that she can effectively listen during her classes. What can Elise do to prepare for her listening situation?

Monica will be attending a lecture of a famous film editor for her film studies class. What can she do to prepare for the lecture?

Myriam’s public speaking class is required to provide written feedback for 3 different in-class speeches. When Myriam receives the written feedback of her speech from other students, the comments range from what she did really well to how she could change a few things to be more effective. What type of feedback has Myriam received?

In his weekly team meeting, Tariq listens as his coach is going over boring budget rules that the team must follow when they travel next week. Tariq maintains eye contact and nods his head to show comprehension. What type of feedback does Tariq give?

Dan’s professor observed his group during a problem-solving meeting. Immediately afterwards, his professor offered the group some feedback. She said “Good job. I think you worked together as a group very well.” This feedback, while nice to hear, was not very helpful for Dan’s group because the feedback only contained one element of effective feedback. Which element does Dan’s professor successfully use in her feedback?

Joan is giving some feedback to Daniel regarding his executive presentation. She says “You drone on too much with details that don’t matter to me. You should focus more on just what I need to know.” What technique can Joan use to turn this negative statement into something more positive?