Step 1: Take the Active-Emphatic Listening Scale (AELS) assessment here: The Active-Empathic Listening Scale (AELS) Version: General, Self-Report

Step 2: Identify your own weaknesses noted in the Active-Emphatic Listening Scale (AELS) report. What areas of listening do you need to work on?

Step 3: Make a list of all the obstacles that get in the way of effective listening. For example, thought distractions: either thinking of your own response or thinking of a different subject entirely while listening.

Step 4: Select three items from your list of obstacles and identify ways they can be overcome. For example, an obstacle to listening is the outside noise coming down the hall of two students arguing during your speech. An effective way to overcome that noise distraction is to pause and wait for it to die down, or quietly close the door to the classroom and shut out the noise.

Assignment Rubric: