Module 2
Overview- Module 2
Effective Interpersonal
Communication
Attention skills
Listening skills
Self Assessment
Empathetic understanding
Interchangeable
responses
Introduction
To be an excellent Advice Guru, you must learn and demonstrate
appropriate attending skills, active listening techniques,
empathy, and interchangeable responses
Advice Guru’s must remain nonjudgmental and genuinely enjoy
assisting their mentee with his/her transition to university
In order to develop and establish a helping relationship high
levels of trust, respect and warmth are necessary
WISC-Online
Attention Skills
Physical Attention
Your body should be communicating nonverbally
that you are really interested in what your mentee
is saying
E.g. sitting down, good eye contact, providing supportive
expressions of warmth and caring
You should not be displaying behaviors that may be
distracting to the person seeking help
E.g. no fidgeting, distracting movements, don’t use your
cell phone, or make judgmental facial expressions
Attention Skills
Psychological Attention
Focusing on the whole
person (E.g. feelings,
thoughts, intentions), while
being attentive
Trying to enter the other
persons world, seeing and
experiencing the world as
they do
Listening Skills
As an Advice Guru, listening skills are
critical
Common Problems/ Barriers in Listening
Environmental distractions
Cell phones, noise, temperature,
odors, other people talking
Pride
Don’t take over the conversation.
By doing so your mentee may
think that you have nothing to
learn from them.
Close mindedness
Don’t assume that you have all
the right answers
Keep an open mind for effective
listening
Listening Skills
Thought Speed
The human mind can process a
lot of information in a short
period of time
Don’t jump to conclusions
Avoid letting your mind stray
while you are meeting with your
mentee
Defensiveness
Defending is a primal response to
feeling attacked, threatened,
misunderstood or disrespected
Don’t view comments and
criticisms as a personal attack
Please click the following link to complete the Self Assessment:
http://www.mhhe.com/business/management/buildyourmanagementskills/updated_flash/topic13b/quiz.html
If you cannot click on the link, please copy and paste the link into your browser.
•
What was your score on the self-assessment?
• What are some of your listening strengths?
• What are some of your listening weaknesses?
• How do you plan on improving upon your weaknesses?
Hint: You may see these questions again on the Module 2 Quiz
Empathic Understanding
Empathy is a critical dimension to
interpersonal communication
Empathy is the capability understand
another being’s emotions and feelings
(Wikipedia, 2011).
Putting yourself in your mentee’s shoes
Empathy is not sympathy
In other words, you can understand
why someone feels the way they
do, but you don’t necessarily have
to:
A. Feel the same
B. Think the same…in order to
have empathy with them
Interchangeable Responses
How do you demonstrate that you are listening intently and understanding
the problem you are hearing?
Interchangeable Responses
Paraphrase what your mentee has told you
Mentee: “I can’t believe the time I wasted this morning. Dr. Jones and I
had an appointment to discuss my winter class schedule and I waited an
hour and he never showed up. This is the second time he has done this
to me”
Appropriate interchangeable response…
Mentor: “It seems that you’re really annoyed because Dr. Jones failed to
show for your advising appointment. Being the second time this has
happened makes it even more irritating to you”.
This interchangeable response captures both the context and feelings
expressed by the student and allows the student to continue to self
explore the problem.
If the first link doesn’t work, try the other link.
http://app.fluidsurveys.com/surveys/danielle-w/module-2-quiz-1/
http://app.fluidsurveys.com/surveys/danielle-w/module-2-quiz-2/
If you cannot click on the link, please copy and paste the link into your browser.
References
McShane, S. (2000). Active listening skills self assessment. McGraw Hill.
Retrieved from:
http://www.mhhe.com/business/management/buildyourmanagementskills/
updated_flash/topic13b/quiz.html
lifetofullest.com. (2011). 5 effective listening barriers. Retrieved from:
http://lifetofullest.com/effective-listening-barriers/
mowgli=mentoring. 2009. Exploring empathy in mentoring. Retrieved from:
http://mowgli.org.uk/913/exploring-empathy-in-mentoring.html”
Ender, S., Newton, F. (2000). Students helping students. San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass Publishers.