Sunday, September 9, 2007

How well do you communicate and listen effectively?

Hi Everyone

Thanks to beck at http://beckpsychblog.blogspot.com/ for her suggestion to include the following quiz http://www.wittcom.com
/communication_skills_quiz.htm


I found this quiz quick to complete and interesting to analyse the results. Here are some of my thoughts on the topic.

When communicating with other individuals one may use many skills to engage and communicate effectively. Aside from verbal cues, many non-verbal cues also play a role when communicating with others. In addition to this, some people may communicate well however not listen effectively and this may contribute significantly particularly where interpersonal conflict is concerned.

Therefore, I have included a short quiz on listening skills to check how effective your listening skills are when communicating.

http://www.wittcom.com/listening_quiz.htm

Please let me know your thoughts on this topic, you don't need to share your results only your thoughts on the subject would be great.

Thanks Michelle

5 comments:

Sarah said...

Dear Michelle,
That was a big eye opener of a test! I didn't even realise i did some of the things that the quiz outlined. Things such as having a response ready before a person is finished talking and interrrupting a person if you think you can predict what they are going to say. I think i am mostly a good listener, i try and pay attention to non verbal cues, by doing this quiz i can appreciate that i still have a few areas to work on!

Karen Woods said...

That was an easy and quick test to do and did reveal some interesting things to think about when we are in a conversation with others.

I did well on the test scoring 11 but this is because I was told many years ago that I was a bad listener - I was horrified! I'm not sure if the comment was really accurate or not, but it has made me work hard on my listening skills ever since.

I've been on some team-building type exercises when I was working in the public service years back, and I was picked out as one of the very few people who are good talkers as well as good listeners - so I think I've done a lot of work with my listening skills with some degree of success. Phew!

Jessica said...

Hi Michelle,

This topic is a very interesting one. I completed both of the quizzes you provided links to, and a couple of things stood out for me. While I scored well on the listening test, I did notice a couple of areas I need improvement on. Sometimes I anticipate what another person is going to say, so prior to them finishing their sentence, I attempt to finish it for them...not a great habit. Also, sometimes I can get very self-conscious about how others will perceive what I say, so like Sarah, thoughts will often start racing through my mind as what response would be best. If I am doing this, I am obviously not paying my full attention to the speaker, so I think this is something I could work on.

Just as an additonal thought, I think self-esteem and public self-consciousness can play a part in one's ability to communicate and articulate themselves effectively. Varying social situations and contexts can make me particularly aware of how I might be perceived by others, and when this happens, I become far more focused on what to say and how to say it. As a result of over analysing, my verbal communication skills tend to suffer. I think there are so many different social variables which can have an impact on one's ability to communicate effectively. It is definately an interesting topic and I look forward to reading your blog two at the end of the semester :)

Cirovski said...

Michelle, thanks. The quiz was easy to do with interesting results. I guess the score would really depend on which 'hat' you put on, for example, at work I would be very consious about how I effectively I communicate whereas at home it would be very much the case of 'letting your hair down' and perhaps not as focused/conscious about it?????

Clare said...

Hi Michelle,
I just completed the test you provided to find out more about my communication skills. I did really well on it actually and it said "you tend to be a very good communicator". I do believe that I try consciously (almost 100% of the time) to be a good communicator. To me, it is one of the most valuable skills a person can have. You can build so many great friendships, partnerships or work related relationships through good communication. What I always try to do is listen really carefully to what others are saying, then let them know I heard what they said (not always an easy task!) which is why I love it when people can honestly say "nah Clare, thats not what I meant!". I need to work on how I deal with realy negative situations, thats where my communication can suffer.
Good luck Shell x