Self-Imposed Silence and Perceived Listening Effectiveness

Abstract

Thus far, listening training has been limited to lectures on the process of listening and experiential exercises designed to provide for practice in listening and for assisting in a person's ability to recognize his or her own beneficial and detrimental listening behaviors. Using a new process—silence—for developing listening skills, this study compared the effects on perceived listening effectiveness of a self- imposed period of silence versus attending a lecture on listening skills versus a combination of a self-imposed period of silence and attending a lecture. While no significant differences were found for either lecture or silence or the combination of the two on measures of perceived listening effectiveness, qualitative data from journals kept by the participants suggest that the act of self-imposed silence greatly improves awareness of one's listening effectiveness and the value of developing beneficial listening skills.