An individual, upon whispering a question into the god's ear, plugged his own ears, left the agora, and then listened for the god's answer among the chance words of pedestrians. This was likely popular because the individual selectively chose which words formed the answer.
An individual would often engage in this practice by quietly asking a question to a deity, covering his own ears, leaving the public square, and then attempting to discern the god's response from the surrounding conversations. The appeal of this method likely stemmed from its ability to filter out irrelevant information.