Objective
To determine the topic, main idea, and supporting details of a paragraph.

Step 1: Read “Listening Styles” from the textbook Interpersonal Communication: Relating to Others.

Listening Styles

1     What’s your listening style? Do you focus more on the content of the message than on the feelings being expressed by the speaker? Or do you prefer brief sound bites of information? Your listening style is your preferred way of making sense out of the spoken messages you hear. Listening researchers Kitty Watson, Larry Barker, and James Weaver have found that listeners tend to fall into one of four listening styles: people-oriented, action-oriented, content-oriented, or time-oriented.

People-Oriented Listeners

2     As you might suspect from the label, people-oriented listeners tend to be comfortable with and skilled at listening to people’s feelings and emotions. They are likely to emphasize and search for common areas of interest. People-oriented listeners embody many of the attributes of being other-oriented—they seek strong interpersonal connections when listening to others. Preliminary evidence suggests that people-oriented listeners may be less apprehensive when interacting with others in small-group and interpersonal interactions.

Action-Oriented Listeners

3     An action-oriented listener prefers information that is well organized, brief, and error-free. And action-oriented listener doesn’t like the speaker to tell lengthy stories and digress. The action-oriented listener may think “Get to the point” or “What am I supposed to do with this information?” when hearing a message filled with too many anecdotes or rambling, disorganized bits of information. Whereas a people-oriented listener would be more likely to focus on the feelings of the person telling the story, the action-oriented listener wants to know the point or the punch line. There is new evidence to suggest that action-oriented listeners are more likely to be more skeptical when listening to information. Researchers call this skepticism second-guessing—questioning ideas and assumptions underlying a message. Rather than taking the information they hear at face value, action-oriented listeners are more likely to reinterpret or evaluate the literal message to determine whether it is true or false—they make another guess (hence the term second-guessing) as to whether the information they are listening to is accurate.

Content-Oriented Listeners

4      If you are a content-oriented listener, you are more comfortable listening to complex, detailed information than people with other listening styles are. A content-oriented listener homes in on the facts, details, and evidence in a message. In fact, if a message does not have ample supporting evidence and specific details, the content-oriented listener is more likely to reject the message. Like the action-oriented listener, content-oriented listeners are likely to make second-guesses about the messages they hear. Content-oriented listeners are also less apprehensive when communicating with others in groups and other interpersonal situations. Content-oriented listeners would make good judges or lawyers; they focus on issues and arguments and listen to see whether a conclusion that a speaker reaches is accurate and credible.

Time-Oriented Listeners

5      You’re a time-oriented listener if you like your messages delivered succinctly. Time-oriented listeners are keenly aware of how much time they have to listen. Their lives are filled with many things on their “to do” list; their “in basket” often overflows, so they want messages delivered quickly and briefly. Whereas a people-oriented listener might enjoy spending time over a cup of coffee catching up on the day’s activities, a time-oriented person is more like a drive-by listener—a time-oriented listener may think, “Give me what I need so I can keep on moving to my next task or hear my next message,” “Don’t ramble, don’t digress, just get to the point quickly.”

—Beebe, Beebe, & Redmond, pp. 139–140

Step 2: Choose the best answer for each item below. Your instructor will tell you whether to write your answers in your book or to submit your answers online for electronic grading. If you are completing the activity in your book, you may want to refer to the passage on your computer screen.

		1. People-oriented listeners embody many of the attributes of being other-oriented—they seek strong interpersonal connections when listening to others. Embody means _______.     story   nervous   represent   doubtful   briefly
		2. Preliminary evidence suggests that people-oriented listeners may be less apprehensive when interacting with others in small-group and interpersonal interactions. Apprehensive means ______.    story   nervous   represent   doubtful   briefly
		3. The action-oriented listener may think “Get to the point” or “What am I supposed to do with this information?” when hearing a message filled with too many anecdotes or rambling, disorganized bits of information. Anecdote means ________.    story   nervous   represent   doubtful   briefly
		4. There is new evidence to suggest that action-oriented listeners are more likely to be more skeptical when listening to information. Skeptical means ____.    story   nervous   represent   doubtful   briefly
		5. You’re a time-oriented listener if you like your messages delivered succinctly. Succinctly means _______.     story   nervous   represent   doubtful   briefly
		6. The topic of the first paragraph of “Listening Styles” is    a. How to listen well.   b. Focusing on the content of a message.   c. The four kinds of listening styles.   d. Connecting with information.
		7. The main idea of the first paragraph is that researchers    a. Are studying the way people listen.   b. Are studying how people listen because it affects how they learn.   c. Have found that people fall into one of four listening styles.   d. Have discovered that to be a good student, you must be a people-oriented listener.
		8. The topic of the second paragraph is    a. People-oriented listeners.   b. Preliminary evidence about listeners.   c. Why people are apprehensive when making speeches.   d. Creating strong interpersonal skills.
		9. The main idea of the second paragraph is    a. Good listeners are comfortable making speeches.   b. Good listeners adjust to their listening style.   c. People-oriented listeners focus on other people’s feelings and emotions.   d. People-oriented listeners feel less stress in large group situations.
		10. The main idea of the third paragraph is that action-oriented listeners    a. Want well-organized, brief, accurate information.   b. Enjoy a good story.   c. Have little patience with people who second-guess.   d. Tend to get off the subject when they make speeches.