Listening is one of the most essential aspects when it comes to public speaking. As a speaker, you need to be able to connect with your audience. Their reactions, facial expressions, and responses is a way that speakers are able to adjust to keep the audience engaged. Being attentive to their opinions and questions will show that you care about your subject and getting your message across. It builds credibility and allows speakers to improve their skills and become better. And as the audience, when listening to a public speaker, it's important for you to be engaged in the topic so you are able to build questions, show the speaker that you're interested in what they're trying to say and make conversation. According to the Listener Preference Profile, I am a people-oriented listener as I got all four checked off on the list. I am able to listen to people with minimal judgment and I can connect with the speaker emotionally and show them support. However, I can get too involved and bring my own feelings into the topic and may be overbearing for some with my expressions. I find this very true, I sometimes hear from others that I am very expressive but it is my way of showing the people who are speaking to me that I care about what they're saying. On the Listening Style Inventory, I am an involved listener. Just like the people-oriented listener, it means that I show lots of expression and analyze the message in my mind to be able to react to the speaker's message. I find that this is a good thing when I am a listener but I can also say that some people might not want my input, sometimes we just need others to listen to what we haveto say. In a speaker's perspective, that means I am able to be open about how I feel about my topics and I can connect with my audience by allowing them to put their own input about my message and not feeling heavily criticized. One listening strategy that I will employ when listening to speeches in this class is formulating questions as I am listening to the speaker. I usually tend not to ask questions but I realized how important that is for the speaker because it allows them to elaborate more on their ideas and connect to me as an audience. It shows that me as a listener is actually interested in what the speaker is trying to convey. The results of both self-assessments seemed very accurate to me. I know that I am very expressive when I am talking to others and I try my best to show support but I tend to forget that it could be overbearing at times. I have to try and remind myself that yes, while it is good to express interest, try not to be overly-involved. When it comes to public speaking, I'm shy at first but then as I continue to talk, I become very comfortable and I would want my audience to show expression and ask questions. Overall, public speaking isn't as difficult as long as I am attentive to my audience and am able to show I am confident and open to different perspectives on my