Assessing Your Listening Habits

The following inventory is a self-assessment tool to help you identify how well and how often you practice good listening habits. Circle the number that best corresponds to your current practice, with 1 representing seldom, 3 representing usually, and 5 representing almost always. In the Comments/Actions space note what steps you might take to improve your listening habits.

Good Listening Habit	Current Level of Practice	Comments/Action
I avoid the tendency to make assumptions or let my personal feelings about others or what they say interfere with my ability to listen	1 2 3 4 5	__________________ __________________ __________________
I avoid the tendency to decide ahead of time that others don't know what they are talking about.	1 2 3 4 5	__________________ __________________ __________________
I avoid the tendency to decide ahead of time that others are going to attack, making me too defensive to really listen.	1 2 3 4 5	__________________ __________________ __________________
I avoid the tendency to get over stimulated to the point of preparing a rebuttal while others are talking.	1 2 3 4 5	__________________ __________________ __________________
I hold back on making judgments about others or what they are saying until I have listened and tried my best to understand from their perspective.	1 2 3 4 5	__________________ __________________ __________________
I avoid the tendency to determine ahead of time that my mind is set and that what others have to say is irrelevant	1 2 3 4 5	__________________ __________________ __________________
I avoid the tendency to decide ahead of time that what others are saying is uninteresting, too difficult to understand, or unimportant.	1 2 3 4 5	__________________ __________________ __________________
I avoid the tendency to listen only for what I want or expect to hear as opposed to all of what others are saying.	1 2 3 4 5	__________________ __________________ __________________
I avoid the tendency to daydream, tune out, or fake attention to others when what they are saying seems either too difficult to understand or irrelevant to me.	1 2 3 4 5	__________________ __________________ __________________
I listen not only for the obvious. I pay attention to the verbal and nonverbal messages being sent and to the factual and emotional content.	1 2 3 4 5	__________________ __________________ __________________
I listen with my entire body. Relaxed body positions and lack of eye contact (during face-to-face communication) are not conducive to effective listening.	1 2 3 4 5	__________________ __________________ __________________
Whenever possible, I do something about the distractions and interruptions that might be making it difficult for me to listen.	1 2 3 4 5	__________________ __________________ __________________
I listen with empathy, I attempt to put myself in others' shoes.	1 2 3 4 5	__________________ __________________ __________________
I listen actively. I reflect back on what has been said in my own words to indicate my understanding of what others have said and felt.	1 2 3 4 5	__________________ __________________ __________________

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