Nonlistening

There are six different forms of nonlistening. In pseudolistening, one pretends to listen, while in monopolizing, one manipulates the conversation to be all about themselves. Selective listening involves focusing on only parts of communication, and defensive listening involves perceiving negative criticisms or attacks when there are none. Ambushing is listening for the purpose of attacking the speaker, and literal listening is listening only for content and ignoring relationship meaning. I tend to participate in both pseudolistening and some monopolizing. There are times when I feel like the person I'm speaking to is going on about only themselves and not making it a two-person conversation, and then I will either pseudolisten or start talking only about myself. Also, I often find myself pseudolistening in classes. In order to overcome this pseudolistening, I will start making an effort to consciously realize when the conversation is getting to the point of me not wanting to listen. Then I will either engage the other person to bring the conversation back to a two way communication, or I will leave the conversation. Rather than monopolizing, I will start asking questions about things that interest me, so that I will be able to be a part of the conversation with the other person. Although I listen actively for the most part, there are definitely times when I find myself nonlistening, and I should try to change that for myself.