Listening styles upon communication. Communications & Media Essay

Listening Styles in Communication
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Listening Styles in Communication
In his book in Chapter 5, Adler, Rodman, and du Pré (2015) discuss five listening styles. One’s attentiveness shapes the five different styles to listening, participation in the conversation, motive of listening, and external and internal factors that influence their listening. Appreciative listening involves listening for enjoyment. Empathetic listening is listening to the pains or hurts that the other person is going through and offering them support and understanding. Discerning listening is useful when one is listening to gather information or knowledge. Comprehensive listening goes beyond just collecting information as it involves understanding and organizing the nuggets of information to make sense out of it. On the other hand, evaluative listening (also selective listening) involves listening and assessing information for decision-making (Adler, Rodman, & du Pré, 2015). Although the listening style that one uses may vary depending on such factors as time and the purpose of listening, my primary listening style is empathetic listening. 
My Primary Listening Style
This unit has helped us to understand the characteristics of the five listening styles, and I believe that my primary style is empathetic listening. It involves listening and then responding to the other person, thus improving mutual trust and understanding. In most of my conversations, this style has helped in building respect and trust, listen to the other party as they release their emotions, reduce tension, encourage the surfacing of information, and creating a safe environment for problem-solving and sharing (Strom, 2020).
When conversing with someone, I give them my full attention (Yalçın, 2020). I keep it in my mind that the person in front of me is my sole focus at that particular moment. Although sometimes situations call for multi-tasking, I remember that it is inappropriate when I am working or conversing empathetically with another individual, especially when I am practicing empathetic listening. I have had personal ups and downs, and I always remember that the problem of the individual I am conversing with is in my hands, and o my time and understanding are reversely in theirs.
I also avoid speaking when the other is communicating their problem or issue (Glen, Taylor, & Dautel, 2020). I take it as my job to hear what the other party is saying, and I strive to reach to the heart of the issue to understand the point entirely. This helps me in finding out such specifics as who was involved, the actual problem or situation, and the circumstances surrounding the issue. This information also helps me in the best-informed solution that I can to the other party. I believe that failure to listen closely enough might lead to me missing an intrinsic part of the issue at hand.
Once the speaker has finished talking, I offer them a summary of what I heard from them. This implies that I take what I have heard from them and then reword it, and give them an overview of their entire speaking. Although it does not go to the full extent of mentioning everything that the speaker said, it enables me to convince the speaker that I was listening and attentive to what they were saying. It also helps in reaffirming what I heard from them and creates room for any correction from them.
I realize that my listening style meets the characteristics of empathetic listening. According to Adler, Rodman, and du Pré (2015), the primary attributes of empathetic listening are; listening without interrupting the speaker, giving the speaker full attention when they are speaking, and providing a summarized version of what one gathered from what the speaker said. This helps in reaffirming the information and gets the empath...