Active Listening Skills

Think about situations where you've experienced passive listening from others and how it made you feel. Consider how it affected your communication and relationship with them. (5 mins)

“As the speaker, this can be very dissatisfying, very discouraging when people really aren't paying attention to us, like, why am I even talking in the first place?”

Test your understanding of the difference between active and passive listening with a short quiz. (5 mins)

“Active listening is the opposite of passive listening.”

Make a conscious choice to prioritize listening in your interactions. Write down three specific situations where you will actively listen today. (5 mins)

“Good listening is first and foremost a choice that you make every time somebody speaks.”

Actively seek opportunities to practice your listening skills. Identify one person you can practice with today and schedule a short conversation. (5 mins)

“Like any skill, you have to work at it.”

Consciously maintain open body posture, make eye contact, and orient towards the speaker. During a conversation today, focus on these nonverbal cues. (7 mins)

“You put your devices completely away. You make eye contact. Your body posture is open and oriented toward the other person.”

Pay attention to the speaker's visual cues, such as their mood or emotions. During a conversation, try to identify the speaker's feelings based on their body language. (7 mins)

“You listen with your eyes. And part of that means you're noticing what's happening with the person visually, on their mood or their emotion that they're showing.”

Formulate thoughtful questions to show interest and encourage the speaker to elaborate. Prepare 3 open-ended questions you can use in your next conversation. (7 mins)

“Probably the most common pattern that good listeners demonstrate is that they ask a good question and then they let the speaker fully answer it.”

Incorporate small verbal cues (e.g., 'I hear you,' 'Yeah,' 'Hmm') to show you're following the conversation. Consciously use these cues in a conversation today. (7 mins)

“The other part of verbal communication is those small utterances that show the other person that we're following them. Like I hear you, yeah, that makes sense.”

Summarize or reflect back what the speaker said to show understanding. Practice this in your next conversation. (7 mins)

“At the end of their talking turn, it's your turn again, and this is where you show that you were actively following along and were interested in what they were saying, and you can do this by reflecting back what you just heard.”

Pose follow-up questions that build upon what the speaker has shared. Prepare some follow-up questions for your next conversation. (7 mins)

“You could ask another follow-up question.”

Make a conscious effort to avoid interrupting the speaker or changing the subject. Track how many times you feel the urge to interrupt in your next conversation. (7 mins)

“Resist that temptation to jump in with your own story or to change the subject to your favorite topic.”

When it's your turn to speak, keep your comments and questions brief and focused on the speaker's interests. Aim for 20-second responses in your next conversation. (7 mins)

“Keep your talking turns and questions concise, and then stick to whatever topic they're interested in.”