WEBVTT

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Welcome back, everyone.

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In this unit, we’re shifting from the “what” of listening to the “why” and “how.”

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Earlier in the course, we spent time unpacking what listening is—how attention, perception, and memory work together to help us make meaning from what we hear.

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Now, Unit 3 takes us one layer deeper. Instead of only asking how listening happens, we’re asking: How do scholars explain listening?

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Because once you understand the theories behind listening, you gain a new kind of power: you can analyze conversations, diagnose breakdowns, and choose better responses.

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So here’s our main goal for Unit 3: Analyze and evaluate key theories and principles that contribute to effective listening.

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That word “evaluate” matters. We’re not just memorizing definitions—we’re learning to compare theories, recognize what each one explains best, and apply them to real-life communication.

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To make this practical, we’ll use one scenario throughout the unit. Here it is.

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You’re working with a coworker, Maya, on a group project. And she says, “I feel like I’m carrying most of the weight on this project. I need you to take more initiative.”

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That moment is emotionally loaded. It’s ambiguous. It’s relational. And it’s exactly the kind of situation where listening theories help.

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In this unit, we’ll look at several major theories and principles and ask: What does each one reveal about what’s happening in that moment?

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First, we’ll explore the HURIER Model, which breaks listening into six internal stages—like hearing, understanding, interpreting, and responding.

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Then we’ll move to the Transactional Model, which explains communication as simultaneous and dynamic—meaning both people are influencing the conversation in real time.

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We’ll also introduce listening fidelity, which asks a very practical question: Did the meaning you heard match what the speaker intended?

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Next, we’ll add the emotional layer with mindful listening and empathic listening—approaches that help manage internal reactions and tune into emotional meaning.

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And we’ll explore constructivist listening, which helps explain why two people can hear the same message but interpret it completely differently.

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Throughout the unit, you’ll notice something important: no single theory explains everything.

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Each theory highlights a different layer of listening—cognitive, emotional, relational, and behavioral.

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So your job isn’t to pick one “best” theory. Your job is to learn how to use them like tools—choosing the right lens for the situation you’re trying to understand.

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By the end of Unit 3, you will create a short, advice-based video focused on one major listening theory and how it explains a communication breakdown for a specific audience.

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And that’s what makes this unit so useful: it helps you move from reacting automatically to listening intentionally.

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Alright—let’s get started.