Active listening is a skill that can be acquired and
developed with practice. However, active listening can be difficult to
master and will, therefore, take time and patience to develop.
'Active listening' means, as
its name suggests, actively listening. That is fully concentrating on
what is being said rather than just passively ‘hearing’ the message of
the speaker.
Active listening involves
listening with all senses. As well as giving full attention to the
speaker, it is important that the ‘active listener’ is also ‘seen’ to be
listening - otherwise the speaker may conclude that what they are
talking about is uninteresting to the listener.
Interest can be conveyed to the
speaker by using both verbal and non-verbal messages such as
maintaining eye contact, nodding your head and smiling, agreeing by
saying ‘Yes’ or simply ‘Mmm hmm’ to encourage them to continue. By
providing this 'feedback' the person speaking will usually feel more at
ease and therefore communicate more easily, openly and honestly.
Listening is the most fundamental component of interpersonal communication skills.
Listening is not something that just happens (that is hearing),
listening is an active process in which a conscious decision is made to
listen to and understand the messages of the speaker. Listeners
should remain neutral and non-judgmental, this means trying not to
take sides or form opinions, especially early in the conversation.
Active listening is also about patience - pauses and short periods of
silence should be accepted. Listeners should not be tempted to jump in
with questions or comments every time there are a few seconds of
silence. Active listening involves giving the other person time to
explore their thoughts and feelings, they should, therefore, be given
adequate time for that.Active listening not only means focusing fully on the speaker but also actively showing verbal and non-verbal signs of listening. Generally speakers want listeners to demonstrate ‘active listening’ by responding appropriately to what they are saying. Appropriate responses to listening can be both verbal and non-verbal:
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