Kinds of Listeners: What Kind of Listener Are You?


English Lesson Notes for Junior Secondary

Kinds of Listeners: What Kind of Listener Are You?

In every communication setting, the listener as well as the speaker is very important. But it is unfortunate that we usually want to be speakers rather than listeners. Even when we listen, we do not listen to understand what is being said, but only to reply.
Kinds of Listeners: What Kind of Listener Are You?
Good speakers are also good listeners, so it is better to balance the two if you haven't been doing that already. In this article, we shall look at some kinds of listeners.

1. Absent-minded listener
A person who is absent-minded is usually absent in mind; easily distracted or preoccupied with something other than the current event he or she is present at. A student can be in the classroom, but his mind may be somewhere else. Teachers detest this! If a listener is absent-minded, it affects the communication process. Because he or she is not paying attention, he or she cannot give good feedback or contribution to the discussion. If you are often absent-minded in your conversations with people, turn over a new leaf. It can be a very annoying behaviour!

2. A fake listener
There are some listeners who pretend they are listening, but, in fact, they are not. They are often caught unawares when the speaker expects an answer/response from them. Their common lines are "Pardon?", "I didn't get what you said", "The line was faint", "Network problem" (especially on phone), etc.

If you are not interested in having the conversation, don't pretend you are. Kindly let the person know.


3. Bored listener
If someone is bored out of his mind or brains, the person is extremely bored or is suffering from boredom. Such a person becomes uninterested or pays no attention to what is going on. Such is a bored listener! Whatever is said goes in one ear and out the other. The subject under discussion may be boring to him or her so he or she focuses the attention on something else.

Have you ever attended a boring lecture? In 300 words, describe the feeling. Don't say it is indescribable! Lol!

4. Purposive/Selective listener
This kind of listener chooses what to listen to and what not to listen to. In a conversation, he or she is only interested in a certain subject/topic. When that topic is on the table for discussion, he or she is attentive and active, but once the topic is off the table, he or she reverts to any of the three kinds of listeners above.

5. Impatient listener
An impatient listener is always in a haste to interrupt or interject the speaker. He or She always has something to chip in. He or She is too quick to reply, instead of listening to understand what is being said.

© Eric Nuamah Korankye (Hamlet)
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