Imagine that you are the listener in the situations that follow. What factors would determine the way in which you listen on these occasions?
a. You are a student in a large lecture and have no previous experience with the content of this subject, which has a lot of technical examples.
b. You arrive at a club meeting and you meet a very interesting, charming and attractive person whom you find very appealing and who also decides to spend most of the time talking to you.
c. You are a consultant working on a telephone help desk for computer support and answers a call. The caller immediately launches into a complaint about his or her computer not working properly.
d. This is the first day of your new job at an electronics factory. The supervisor takes you aside to explain the work.
e. A workmate who has been seeking a promotion has just heard that the promotion has been given to another colleague and has come to tell you about it.
f. You are in the middle of preparing your children’s dinner when you have to answer the door. Outside is a sales representative who immediately launches into a promotional speech for a floor-cleaning product being sold at a special price.
g. A relative of one of your closest friends has just died from a drug overdose. You are returning home after having visited the family and turn on the car radio. By coincidence, you find yourself listening to a program about drug addiction.