Life Skills & Leadership: Unit 1, Session 1: Me and My Assets | Page 5 of 128
Note: All communication is culturally subjective so there must be unique ways to demonstrate active listening and positive
communication in the host culture at each post. As facilitator, you will need to discover the differences between what
active listening means in your culture and what it means in the host culture. Most information available about active
listening is biased toward North American preferences and sensibilities. For example, maintaining direct eye contact is seen
as positive in North America but not recommended in many other cultures. This activity is designed to solicit ideas from
host culture participants about what constitutes active listening in their culture.
- Help participants to identify techniques and strategies for effective listening in their culture. Say:
“In the opening activity, we were able to see how effective communication is a combination of both the
person speaking and the person listening. We cannot do very much about how well someone sends
their message to us but we can do something about what we do with their message when we receive it.
“I’d like you to think about what it’s like to be speaking with a friend you know well who really listens to
you. What does that person do that lets you know she or he has received your message? How does s/he
show that s/he has heard and fully understood what you said? Please take a moment to give this some
thought.” (Pause for them to think.)
“In a few minutes, working in groups of three or four, I’d like you to think of what a good listener does
in several key areas. After you’ve talked about some few ideas, I’ll give your group a flip chart for one of
the areas and I’d like you to draw a picture that shows what a good listener does.
- Ask people to form groups of three or four. Then say:
a. “Please discuss how you think a listener shows she or he is paying attention by
Body – how does the listener sit or stand and how close?
Eyes – where does the listener look?
Movement – does the listener use hand gestures or facial expressions?
Focus – how does the listener deal with interruptions?
Emotions – how does the listener react to your feelings?
Voice – what words or sounds does the listener make?
b. Now I’m going to give each group one area to think about more specifically. On the flip chart I give your group,
draw a picture of what a good listener does.
Note: You can adjust the distribution of flip charts depending on group size. For very large groups, divide into six smaller
groups of five or six. If your whole group numbers 10 or fewer participants, give each small group two flip chart pages and,
after they report (Step 4 below), complete any unused flip chart pages as a whole group. Optional: One additional flip chart
with all the items might be helpful for explaining the task.
Note: Be supportive of participants by stressing that artistic skill is not required for this activity. In fact, part of the fun will
be interpreting participants’ sketches in Step 4 below. Alternatively, you can ask participants to act out the skills or make a
“still picture” instead.
- Give participants about five minutes to work, then ask them to report the conclusions of their
discussion. Say:
