Active listening definition

Active listening is about placing all of one’s intense concentration and attention to everything the person is conveying, both verbally and nonverbally.

It involves avoiding premature judgment, reflecting, understanding, and clarifying information through restating a paraphrased version of the speaker’s message and asking questions, summarizing, and sharing (Hoppe, 2006; Weger, Castle Bell, Minei, & Robinson, 2014).

Unlike passive listening which doesn’t require anything from the listener other than allowing the speakers to let their words out and waiting to take a turn, active listening requires active engagement with a speaker and the message they’re communicating.

According to Leonardo (2020), active listening involves a healthy combination of critical, reflective, and passive listening.

• Critical listening involves interpreting a message, evaluating information, and developing one’s opinion.
• Reflective listening entails using your own words to repeat back what you heard the speaker say. This is to help the speaker feel heard.
• Passive listening allows the speaker uninterrupted time to get their message across

 

So, good listeners are active listeners who pay more attention to other speakers’ intent, give them space to voice out their ideas, reflect and try to understand their message before speaking up.

Developing active listening skills may seem hard to achieve mainly with existing habits of responding to, and interrupting others while they’re speaking (these responses are called ‘road blocks’).

Yet, this is a powerful skill. Practitioners and researchers from a variety of fields such as nursing, public administration, physician-patient communication, leadership, and education identify active listening as an important communication skill during initial interactions (Bryant, 2009; Stein, 2009; Fassaert, van Dulmen, Schellevis, & Bensing, 2007; Hoppe, 2007; McNaughton, Hamlin, McCarthy, Head-Reeves, & Schreiner, 2007)

So, active listening has many benefits.

Active listening benefits

Active can be used to hear accurately, understand, draw out ideas and information, empathize, gather information, show respect, build self-esteem, find answers, show appreciation, buy time, connect, question assumptions and ideas, weigh options, change perspectives, soothe or heal, set the stage for something else, and build relationships (Hoppe, 2006).

So, it can help us get our message across, and also help others feel connected to us, and positively influence our relationships, self-esteem, and career success.

For educators

If we practise active listening we will learn more about our students, set healthy boundaries, reduce conflicts, and increase meaningful interactions with them.

We are likely to free ourselves from judgments and observe to gain feedback and bring the necessary change to our instruction.

Besides, as active listeners, we can engage in an emotionally charged conversation without losing our temper. Because we focus on the other person and take some time to reflect, we can see the disagreement and get more capable of self-regulating.

Listening to others, in turn, and showing empathy can help make them feel calmer, and supported and so open them up to our point of view.

So, active listening is an effective tool to manage discipline issues in the classroom and communicate effectively with students, parents, colleagues, and administrators. Using this effective communication skill, you’ll feel much more confident and determined to lead with passion.

For students

Active listening is one of the important ‘soft skills’ students need to thrive in life. We need to teach students how to listen actively to others because we want them to understand others’ emotions, show empathy, and respond properly.

We all know that only through communication students can learn, build relationships, and feel good about themselves. To this end, there need to be healthy interactions in every classroom: no Judging, bullying, violence, or feeling marginalized.

In addition, active listening is a necessary component of active learning. Students who engage in active listening are more likely to reflect on what they’re taught and engage in various ways.

So, active listening should be embodied in every lesson and interaction to develop its skills. Students should practise active listening with their teacher and peers and extend its use beyond the classroom context.

Active listening techniques

To become an active listener, there are basic techniques that we need to use in combination in the workplace and beyond. We should also teach these techniques to our students to help them practise active listening regularly.

1. Pay attention

Giving the speaker your attention is an important first step. Look at the speaker directly. Put aside your agenda, and prejudices and focus on the speaker’s message and body language.

2. Show that you’re listening

Use gestures to convey your attention such as nodding occasionally, smiling, posture, crossed arms, and eye contact. To make the speaker feel more connected to you and encourage him/her to express his/her ideas, you can also use verbal prompts like Yes”, “mhmm” and “Aha”.

3. Paraphrase

The purpose of active listening is to hear and understand the whole message before responding. So, to understand the speaker correctly, paraphrasing is necessary because it helps you reflect on the message: “it sounds like you are saying…”, “I am hearing that…..”.

If it’s inaccurate the speaker will have the opportunity to correct you. Whereas, if your paraphrasing is accurate this will make the speaker more comfortable and willing to engage in dialogue.

You can also ask questions to clarify certain points: “What do you mean by…?, Is this what you mean?”.

4. Use silence

Interrupting is a waste of time. It can frustrate the speaker and deter clarity. So, it’s important to leave time for the speaker to collect their thoughts, complete his/her message, and say how he/she is feeling. This will also help you to take a step back to notice their paralanguage and understand their thoughts and feelings.

5. Redirect

When a speaker goes off-topic or the situation escalates, redirecting is required. This means this technique is used to shift the conversation either toward the original subject to help the speaker focus on original thoughts or toward a less volatile topic to reduce tensions during emotionally charged interactions.

6. Manage your own emotions

Maintain your calm, even when you feel like your ‘buttons’ are being pushed. No matter what kind of emotional response others create in you, remember that you have control of your reactions. Emotional self-regulation is a powerful skill that can help you thrive in all aspects of your life.

7. Respond appropriately

This means responding openly and honestly while asserting your opinions respectfully. Treat the other person in a way that he/she would want to be treated.

For effective communication learn how to actively listen to others. Practise it daily in every interaction you have.  At school, teach it to your students and support them to be effective listeners. You’ll have peace and the well-being you need to enjoy your life.

References

Bryant, L. (2009). The art of active listening. Practice Nurse, 37(6), 49-52.

Fassaert, T., van Dulmen, S., Schellevis, F., & Bensing, J. (2007). Active listening in medical consultations: Development of the Active Listening Observation Scale (ALOSglobal). Patient Education & Counseling, 68, 258-264. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2 007.06.011

Hoppe, M. H. (2006). Active listening: Improve your ability to listen and lead. Greensboro, N.C: Center for Creative Leadership.

Hoppe, M. H. (2007). Lending an ear: Why leaders must learn to listen actively. Leadership in Action, 27(4), 11-14.

Leonardo, N.(2020). Active Listening Techniques: 30 Practical Tools to hone your communication skills. California: Rockridge Press.

McNaughton, D., Hamlin, D., McCarthy, J., HeadReeves, D., & Schreiner, M. (2007). Learning to listen: Teaching an active listening strategy to pre-service education professionals. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 27, 223-231. http://dx.doi .org/10.1177/0271121407311241

Stein, D. (2009). Reducing audience aggression by reflecting back. Public Management, 91, 34.

Weger, H., Castle Bell, G., Minei, E. M., & Robinson, M. C. (2014). The relative effectiveness of active listening in initial interactions. International Journal of Listening, 28, 13-31. http://dx.doi.org/10.10 80/10904018.2013.813234