Active listening

Listening isn't just about hearing sounds. Active or engaged listening involves taking in information in a conversation. Just like any other skill, it can be improved with practice.

To improve your active listening skills:

• Focus your attention: Instead of multitasking, concentrate on what the person is saying.
• Show that you're listening: Make eye contact, nod, smile, and encourage the speaker with small verbal comments like “yes,” and "uh-huh."
• Ask relevant questions: Open and personalized questions are better for building rapport and engaging the other person.
• Clarify: Clarifying ensures you don't misunderstand the participant or miss out on deeper insights. It can be as simple as asking, "Sorry, what do you mean by that?"
• Paraphrase: Repeating what the other party has said in your own words is another way to clarify that you understand correctly. Use assumptive expressions like "Did I get this right?" and allow the other party to correct you when needed.
• Defer judgment: Interrupting frustrates the speaker and limits the full understanding of a message. Allow the speaker to finish each point before asking questions.
• Summarize at the end: Restate why you were talking in the first place and what conclusions were reached.^[1]