outline or summary of key thoughts can be very helpful. Avoid interrupting the speaker.
"Shut up" is a useful listening guideline. "Shut up some more" is a useful extension of
this guideline. Withhold evaluation and judgment until the other person has finished with
the message. A listener's premature frown, shaking of the head, or bored look can easily
convince the other person there is no reason to elaborate or try again to communicate his
or her excellent idea.
Providing feedback is the most important active listening skill. Ask questions. Nod in
agreement. Look the person straight in the eye. Lean forward. Be an animated listener.
Focus on what the other person is saying. Repeat key points.
Active listening is particularly important in dealing with an angry person. Encouraging
the person to speak, i.e., to vent feelings, is essential to establishing communication with
an angry person. Repeat what the person has said. Ask questions to encourage the person
to say again what he or she seemed most anxious to say in the first place. An angry
person will not start listening until they have "cooled" down. Telling an angry person to
"cool" down often has the opposite effect. Getting angry with an angry person only
assures that there are now two people not listening to what the other is saying.
7. Interruptions - A farm is a lively place. Few days are routine. Long periods of calm and
quiet rarely interrupt the usual hectic pace. In this environment, conversations, meetings,
instructions and even casual talk about last night's game are likely to be interrupted. The
interruptions may be due to something more pressing, rudeness, lack of privacy for
discussion, a drop-in visitor, an emergency, or even the curiosity of someone else wanting
to know what two other people are saying.
Regardless of the cause, interruptions are a barrier to communication. In the extreme,
there is a reluctance of employees and family members even to attempt discussion with a
manager because of the near certainty that the conversation will be interrupted. Less
extreme but serious is the problem of incomplete instructions because someone came by
with a pressing question.
8. Physical distractions - Physical distractions are the physical things that get in the way of
communication. Examples of such things include the telephone, a pick-up truck door, a
desk, an uncomfortable meeting place, and noise.
These physical distractions are common on farms. If the phone rings, the tendency is to
answer it even if the caller is interrupting a very important or even delicate conversation.
A supervisor may give instructions from the driver's seat of a pick-up truck. Talking
through an open window and down to an employee makes the truck door a barrier. A
person sitting behind a desk, especially if sitting in a large chair, talking across the desk is
talking from behind a physical barrier. Two people talking facing each other without a
desk or truck-door between them have a much more open and personal sense of
communication. Uncomfortable meeting places may include a place on the farm that is
too hot or too cold. Another example is a meeting room with uncomfortable chairs that
soon cause people to want to stand even if it means cutting short the discussion. Noise is