10 Tips to Effective & Active Listening Skills

    Written by Susie Michelle Cortright

    Do you feel unheard? We’re here to listen. Talk with a free and confidential mentor.

    Listening makes our loved ones feel worthy, appreciated, interesting, and respected. Ordinary conversations emerge on a deeper level, as do our relationships. When we listen, we foster the skill in others by acting as a model for positive and effective communication.

    Further reading: First Date Flops

    In our love relationships, greater communication brings greater intimacy. Parents listening to their kids helps build their self-esteem. In the business world, listening saves time and money by preventing misunderstandings. And we always learn more when we listen than when we talk.

    Listening skills fuel our social, emotional and professional success, and studies prove that listening is a skill we can learn.

    The Technique. Active listening is really an extension of the Golden Rule. To know how to listen to someone else, think about how you would want to be listened to.

    While the ideas are largely intuitive, it might take some practice to develop (or re-develop) the skills. Here’s what good listeners know — and you should, too:

    1. Face the speaker. Sit up straight or lean forward slightly to show your attentiveness through body language.

    2. Maintain eye contact, to the degree that you all remain comfortable.

    3. Minimize external distractions. Turn off the TV. Put down your book or magazine, and ask the speaker and other listeners to do the same.

    4. Respond appropriately to show that you understand. Murmur (“uh-huh” and “um-hmm”) and nod. Raise your eyebrows. Say words such as “Really,” “Interesting,” as well as more direct prompts: “What did you do then?” and “What did she say?”

    5. Focus solely on what the speaker is saying. Try not to think about what you are going to say next. The conversation will follow a logical flow after the speaker makes her point.

    6. Minimize internal distractions. If your own thoughts keep horning in, simply let them go and continuously re-focus your attention on the speaker, much as you would during meditation.

    7. Keep an open mind. Wait until the speaker is finished before deciding that you disagree. Try not to make assumptions about what the speaker is thinking.

    8. Avoid letting the speaker know how you handled a similar situation. Unless they specifically ask for advice, assume they just need to talk it out.

    9. Even if the speaker is launching a complaint against you, wait until they finish to defend yourself. The speaker will feel as though their point had been made. They won’t feel the need to repeat it, and you’ll know the whole argument before you respond. Research shows that, on average, we can hear four times faster than we can talk, so we have the ability to sort ideas as they come in…and be ready for more.

    10. Engage yourself. Ask questions for clarification, but, once again, wait until the speaker has finished. That way, you won’t interrupt their train of thought. After you ask questions, paraphrase their point to make sure you didn’t misunderstand. Start with: “So you’re saying…”

    Further Reading: How to get more out of life than that empty feeling.

    As you work on developing your listening skills, you may feel a bit panicky when there is a natural pause in the conversation. What should you say next? Learn to settle into the silence and use it to better understand all points of view.

    Ironically, as your listening skills improve, so will your aptitude for conversation. A friend of my partner once complimented me on my conversational skills. I hadn’t said more than four words, but I had listened to him for 25 minutes.

    Keep your relationships growing:

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    Help! He makes no sense!

    159 Responses to “10 Tips to Effective & Active Listening Skills”

    • Kate says:

      Glad you thought so Neil. Is there something in particular you’ll start to apply in your life?

    • […] Positive reinforcement, verbal encouragement (“You did it! You figured it out!”), active listening and physical affection are also important in creating a “secure base” from which your […]

    • […] Positive reinforcement, verbal encouragement (“You did it! You figured it out!”), active listening and physical affection are also important in creating a “secure base” from which your […]

    • […] In our love relationships, greater communication brings greater intimacy. Parents listening to their kids helps build their self-esteem. In the business world, listening saves time and money by preventing misunderstandings. And we always learn more when we listen than when we talk. Read More […]

    • […] of all levels to express their opinions on company decisions or policies, it is also important to actively listen to their concerns or […]

    • Christopher Curtis says:

      Learned a lot,thank you for the info.

    • Elkay says:

      Christopher, thank you for your comment as it is good to know that these articles are helpful to others. I am curious about what it was that led you to this particular article? There is extensive information under Resources about God and growing in your relationship with Jesus that may also be helpful or if you would like to explore Christianity with a mentor, just hit the “Talk to a Mentor” button on this page and someone will reply to you in confidence by email. May God bless you today with exactly what you need today.

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