What challenge inspired this recipe?
Imagine that you are listening to another person in different ways. You give the other person 20%, 80% or even 140% of your attention. How do you do this? What changes for the person you listen to?
The activity aims to teach about challenges in communication (especially in an intercultural setting) and the importance of paying attention in order to avoid misunderstandings.
Ingredients :
Participants (more than one)
Step by step guide
This activity can be done with a partner. (As a variation it can also be done with more listeners as well. In that case you can also try to have the listeners each practice a different level of attention at the same time.)
Choose a topic your partner can talk about for longer.
- For 1 minute listen with 20% of attention
- then another minute with 80% and
- the final minute with 140% of your attention
The percentage of attention of course is a subjective feeling but it is important to sense the difference between different levels of attention.
Afterwards, have an open discussion and evaluate the effects of the activity:
- For the “speaker”: » What differences did you feel in 3 situations? » How did it affect your relationship with the listener?
- For the listener: » Which situation did you feel most comfortable with? » What did you do differently in these situations?
Important to highlight!The activity is a great practice in the context of talking about cultural differences and communication. We use it especially in preparation for volunteers on challenges they might face when communicating with foreign people. When difficulties like a language barrier or cultural differences in ways of communication exist, it is important to use positive ways of communication and pay an extra amount of attention. Volunteers often acknowledge that there must be a difference for both parties when paying different levels. Feeling and experiencing it through this activity might help to gain better understanding of this process. |
Before you start cooking, keep in mind…
In the original proposal the duration of listening is scheduled for 3 minutes. We downscaled it to one minute each as otherwise the activity would take too long to match people’s overall attention span.
