Why do we have 2 ears and only one mouth? According to my professor, it is because listening is twice as important as talking! It is hard to listen to everything that others tell you! Active listening is when you hear what the person tells you and then you repeat it back to them in different words so they know you understand what they were trying to tell you! I listen to what other people say, but I sometimes have a hard time remembering what they said. The example that was given in class was the experiment with drawing boxes. The first person was trying to explain how to draw the figure exactly like the one she was looking at without any questions or communication with the class members. The second person was allowed to ask questions and communicate with the class members to make sure the understood what they were supposed to be drawing. The first person only had about 10 people out of 100 that drew their figure exactly like hers. The second person had about 95 percent of the class drawings looking exactly like hers. This example showed the class how important it is to have two-way communication instead of just one-way communication. With the two-way communication, both parties have a much better understanding of what is going on and what the other person is talking about. They also know what the other person is expecting out of the conversation. Another thing that needs to be thought about when responding to someone is to be sensitive to their ideas and when you are giving your ideas to others. The last thing anyone wants is a person with hurt feelings, and that's what could happen if you are not sensitive in your reply. Listening is an issue that everyone deals with, and everyone needs to work together to improve their listening skills.