Listening and Looping
We use listening and looping in both sprints 3 and 4 in Foundations. If you feel like you are experiencing déjà vu, don't worry, you have already done a very similar exercise. Read through the information below to recap why we use listening and looping, and then complete the exercise.
Instructions
Pair up with someone in your cohort and spend 10 minutes running through this exercise
Summary
Conscious Listening is one of the methods we use for training Emotional Intelligence. Through training in Emotional Intelligence, you improve your ability to understand yourself and others and your communication skills. These skills significantly impact your successes in life - at home, at school, at work.
Conscious listening - a.k.a Listening and Looping
This skill can be beneficial - both in terms of the information one can receive when you're not trying to think ahead about responding and the other person feeling met and much more likely to feel heard. Think, "OK, I'm just going to receive what you're telling me, what you're saying, how you're appearing".
Introducing Conscious (Mindful) Listening:
We introduce mindful listening through a listening and looping exercise, which we practice throughout foundations and Bootcamp.
The format is like this:
- Meet together in a pair. The object of your attention is the other person.
- Person A will describe a topic for 2 mins.
- Person B mindfully listens for 2 mins in silence (nodding and smiling are fine, but no verbal interruptions)
- Person B then loops back what they heard Person A say for 2 mins.
Listening and Looping exercise
- Partner up with someone in your cohort on the Foundations Discord Channel. If you end up pairing with more than one person, then great - the more you practice, the better you get.
Hint: If you are remote, connect with another student through Discord. Don't let not being face to face hold you back. You can set up a video meeting with one another or organise a time where both of you can meet in person on campus, whichever works best for you.
Choose one prompt to use:
- What was something difficult that came up during Foundations? How did it challenge you?
- Talk about a time in the last sprint when you showed growth mindset qualities. What was the situation? What will you do less of/more of or differently next time?
- Talk about a time in the last sprint when you showed fixed mindset qualities. What was the situation? What will you do less of/more of or differently next time?
- Talk about a time in the last sprint when you learned something new about yourself. Is it a new trait or something you hadn't noticed before?
- Talk about a time in the last sprint when you felt the rewards of practice. How much practice did it take to feel that you have grown from it?
- Talk about a time in the last sprint when you felt overwhelmed or panicked. What techniques and tools can you use next time to keep your cool?
Set a timer for 2 minutes.
- Person A: Using the prompt, talk until the timer ends.
- Person B: Practice mindful listening. You'll listen attentively, the same way you pay attention to your breath. You're going to pay attention to your partner and just be awake to what's happening. Be awake to what is going on.
After 2 minutes is up, Person B will loop back what they heard. Person A can then add little bits in to clarify or just agree. If they clarify, Person B will loop back again. Keep looping until you agree that what was said by Person A has been looped back.
Take a small break and then switch roles. You can choose another prompt or the same one.
After your pairing session, discuss in your reflection file:
- What was it like to be fully listened to?
- What was it like to listen fully?