It is a listener’s ethical obligation to avoid prejudging a speaker. This means that listeners should not judge the content of what they are about to hear based on their personal prejudices or expectations, but instead give the speaker a chance to present his or her message first. In this blog post, we will discuss five points that illustrate this principle and offer examples of how it can be applied in various situations. First Point: don’t judge based on personal prejudices or expectations. Second Point: give the speaker a chance to present his/her message first. Third Point: make sure that you are interpreting what someone is saying correctly before you reject it as wrong or irrelevant. Fourth Point: if there is something in the content of an argument that makes your “gut reaction” uncomfortable, try not to jump to conclusions and be open-minded instead. Sometimes this discomfort will be strong enough for listeners to reject a speech out of hand without giving the speaker a fair hearing–even though they might learn something new by listening more carefully! When we listen with our minds closed because we feel threatened, we miss
