Part of Lesson Plan: Determining the Characteristics of a Good Salesman

Activity Overview / Details

Students are reminded about Step 1) A good salesman LISTENS more than he talks.

Students sit in a circle and participate in the "Gossip" (or "Telephone") game.  One students comes up with a phrase and whispers it to another, who whispers it to another.  This keeps going until the class reaches the end.  The last person states the phrase, and the class sees how garbled the phrase has become.

Students participate in a class discussion about what they could've done to make sure that everyone got the message.

Students receive the article, "Improving Your Listening Skills," by Robert W. Bly.  They're given another page of Cornell Notes and asked to write about the "Four Steps of Listening and "Become a Better Listener" (listing the categories on the left side of the page with their comments on the right).
In groups, student share their Cornell Notes and reflect on their own strengths and weaknesses in listening.  Finally, students write a short summary in which they acknowledge the four steps of listening and how to become a better listener and state their own strengths and weaknesses in listening.  

This activity is based on a lesson by William Gray from Euclid High School.  The link to the lesson is posted below.