Using active, creative listening skills for twenty four hours is very interesting. I made up my mind to concentrate on what others were saying, especially the members of my family and friends. It wasn´t easy at all because I am used to talking to them and I like others to pay attention to me. But I tried hard and made myself a promise: buying some chocolates and candies after performing this listening skill.
Nobody seemed to realize my involvement in their statements but I learned a lot from this experience. I felt listening is more rewarding. That´s why we have two ears and only a mouth.
1. Sometimes it is more difficult to concentrate if you use active listening skills because you have to simultaneously understand what you are being told and reassure the speakers that you understand them by using verbal affirmations like for example "Sure", "I understand", "I see", etc. So, for me it sometimes caused me trouble trying to use active listening skills like nodding, establishing eye contact or paraphrasing what the speakers said in order to show them that I was involved.
2. Some of my friends and family responded differently to my active listening and seemed to be more excited about what they were talking about because I seemed to be really interested in what they had to say.
3. I also felt a little bit differently because active listening is more demanding than passive listening and it required greater effort from my part.
