Wednesday, June 10, 2009

What's Not Said

I was sitting in my Group Dynamics class the other night really trying to listen to our professor talk about active listening skills. Sounds simple enough, right? Of course that's unless you're married--like me. *wink* Anyhow, he was talking about picking up on "things that are not said" in a conversation. I had to think about that one for a while and I'm still trying to wrap my head around it. What does this mean, exactly? Things that are not said. How do you know what is not said, if it isn't said? I have to acknowledge that my active listening skills aren't on the same level as, say, Slim Goodbody (for those of you elementary folks who are familiar with health curriculum), but I don't really get what it means to listen to "what is not said" in a conversation.


What does listening to "what is not said" mean to you?

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think that many things are unsaid in conversation. You can watch facial expressions, eye contact, listen to the pitch of voice, watch hand gestures. People who feel guilty or may be stretching the truth often cannot maintain eye contact. Sometimes silence can also tell you something. It can indicate comfort level or level of uncomfortableness. If someone says that something you have said doesn't bother them, you can tell for sure by their body language. It always gives them away. I love people watching....you learn oodles about people you don't even know.