It provides a comfortable private escape. But it is one of the biggest barriers to effective listening. Focus on the speaker and the message. To be effective listeners, we must involve our whole body. Not only are our ears tuned in, but so are our eyes, our intellect, our bodies.
Good listeners give nonverbal and verbal signs that they are listening.
Words, issues, situations, personalities can be emotional triggers for us. We must control our responses to distractions or they will control us. Adapted from Bone, Diane. The Business of Listening. Listen attentively without interrupting.