Listening Skills [INTERPRETER]
Being a good mentor requires good listening skills. Before you begin mentoring, test yourself to see how you listen when another person or presenter is talking.
| Intend to Listen | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | INTEND TO LISTEN |
| 1.) I usually intend to listen carefully when another person is speaking. | 1.) I rarely intend to listen carefully when another person is speaking. | |||||
| 2.) I continue to intend to listen even if I am turned off by the speaker’s delivery. | 2.) I lose my interest quickly if I am turned off by the speaker’s delivery. | |||||
| 3.) I maintain direct eye contact when listening to a person. | 3.) I look away or avoid direct eye contact when listening to a person. | |||||
| 4.) I do not interrupt when listening. | 4.) I tend to interrupt people. | |||||
| CONCENTRATE | CONCENTRATE | |||||
| 5.) I concentrate fully when listening. | 5.) I find it hard to concentrate, my mind wanders, and I am easily distracted. | |||||
| 6.) I mentally summarize the main points of what I hear. | 6.) I do not mentally summarize or review the main points when listening. | |||||
| 7.) I focus my attention on what a person is saying during interpersonal communication. | 7.) I think primarily of what I am going to say next when listening during interpersonal communication. | |||||
| 8.) I listen for evidence in a speaker’s comments. | 8.) I do not listen for evidence when listening to a speaker. | |||||
| 9.) I anticipate what a speaker will say next. | 9.) I find it difficult to keep up with a speaker and rarely anticipate what a speaker will say next. | |||||
| 10.) I control my emotions when listening. | 10.) I react or argue before I fully listen and understand. | |||||
| 11.) I keep an open mind when listening. | 11.) I make immediate judgements and jump to conclusions when listening. | |||||
| 12.) I do not allow certain words to immediately trigger my emotions. | 12.) I strongly and immediately react when I hear certain words. | |||||
| CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING | CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING | |||||
| 13.) I do not make assumptions after listening without checking them out with the speaker. | 13.) I frequently make assumptions after listening without checking them with the speaker. | |||||
| 14.) I communicate my understanding of what I heard a person express by putting it into my own words and checking that it is what the person meant. | 14.) I do not convey my understanding of what I heard a person say TO that person. | |||||
| 15.) I communicate my understanding of the feelings I heard a person express TO the person. | 15.) I do not convey my understanding of the person’s expressed feelings TO that person. | |||||
| 16.) I listen in order to understand another person’s perspective. | 16.) I do not listen to understand the other person’s perspective. | |||||
| 17.) I ask open ended questions when listening. | 17.) I tend to remain silent if I have questions after listening. | |||||
| USE MEMORY AIDS | USE MEMORY AIDS | |||||
| 18.) I use memory aids when listening. | 18.) I typically leave everything to memory when listening. | |||||
| 19.) I listen primarily for main ideas rather than every fact. | 19.) I listen for every fact rather than main ideas. | |||||
| 20.) I use note taking skills when listening. | 20.) I rarely take notes when listening. | |||||
| TOTALS | PROFILE SCORE= |
How well did you do? Tally up your score and consider the implications of your score on how effective you might be as a mentor.
90 – 100 Effective Listener
80 – 90 Good Listener
70 – 80 Average Listener
60 – 70 Poor Listener
60 or less – Highly Challenged Listener
Keep in mind that most people score between 62 and 70 when taking this assessment for the first time. If you fall within this range, try not to feel discouraged. Look back through the questions you scored lowest on and consider how you might adjust your listening behavior while working with a mentee.
SUBMIT: Your listening score and any notes about how you plan to improve your listening skills.
