One of the hallmarks of emotionally intelligent people is their ability to listen deeply to others. This is extremely important for parents who want to build families with strong empathy skills and keep communication channels open throughout each developmental age and stage.
Here’s a little self-evaluation exercise to help you pin down just how good you are at listening. Rate yourself, on a scale of 1-5, on each statement:
1. I enjoy listening to people talk.
2. I encourage other people to talk.
3. I listen, even when I do not particularly like the person talking.
4. The sex of the person talk-ing makes no difference in how well I
listen.
5. I listen equally well to a friend, an acquaintance, or a stranger.
6. I put away what I am doing while someone is talking.
7. I look at the person talk-ing.
8. I ignore distractions while listening to a person talk.
9. I smile, nod my head, and otherwise encourage the person to talk.
10. I concentrate on what the person is saying.
11. I try to understand what the person means.
12. I seek to understand why the person is saying it.
13. I never interrupt the per-son talking.
14. If the person hesitates, I encourage him/her to con-tinue.
15. I restate what the person has said and ask if I got it right
16. I withhold all judgments about the person’s idea or message until I have heard all the person has to say about it.
17. I listen regardless of the person’s tone of voice, at-titude, or
choice of words.
18. I don’t anticipate what the person is going to say-just listen.
19. I ask questions to get ideas explained more fully.
20. I ask for clarification of words I do not understand in their
context.
Add Up the Point Value of Your Ratings and Score yourself as follows:
86 – 100 You’re all ears.
71- 85 You’re a pretty good listener.
56 -70 You’re missing a lot.
55 and under – It might be a good idea to have your ears checked.
Active listening skills are a must for building strong relationships. One of the lost skills of parents is their ability to engage (not entertain) their children. More cooperation would be gained if parent more successfully engaged their children. Modeling these behaviors teaches children how to use them in their own lives, at school and on the playground. It will allow them to negotiate conflicts with others and help them to be more of a leader and not simply a follower.
Share your score by clicking the comment link!
SOURCE: http://deonbinneman.wordpress.com/
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That was a great article
Thanks for the info, I love reading these little quiz thingies and putting things into perspective for myself 
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