Questions

1. The biggest block to personal communication is man's inability to listen intelligently, understandingly and skillfully to another person.

(a) Do you agree with this assessment? Give examples to support your argument.

(b) What do you see as the main skills of a good 'listener'?

2. There are some situations where the receiver puts up obstacles to communication (e.g. as a defensive shield against unwelcome questions). Today's 'professional' politicians, are often skilled at avoiding the question. Extensive media training, often provided by former journalists, helps them to replace a meaningful answer to the interviewer's question with their own, often anodyne, 'sound bite'. These 'non-answers' can sound very convincing, and you have to be very alert to spot them!

From an interview on radio and/or television. Make a note of the tactics used by the interviewees and the ways that interviewers try to obtain answers. How successful are they? Identify those occasions where a 'non-answer' is accepted, and others where the interviewer does get a meaningful reply.