What is Active Listening? 10 Tips for Improving Communication

Are you seeking to enhance your communication skills and leave a lasting impression on potential employers? The key lies in a skill often overlooked but highly valuable - active listening. So, what is active listening, and what are some tips on how to improve your listening skills to unlock effective communication? 

What is active listening?

Active listening goes beyond hearing the words that are coming out of someone's mouth. It refers to the intentional and focused process of fully engaging with the speaker, including verbal and non-verbal communication. 

When you are actively listening to another person, you are withholding judgment, giving undivided attention to words and emotions, and demonstrating empathy and understanding. 

Being an active listener plays a vital role in improving communication and advancing your career. By actively engaging with others, you can build rapport, enhance understanding, foster collaboration, resolve conflicts, make better decisions, and develop strong leadership abilities. 

Here are some key benefits of active listening that can positively impact your professional journey:

• Building rapport: Actively listening to others demonstrates respect and genuine interest in them. It helps to build rapport with colleagues, clients, and potential employers, establishing a strong foundation for professional relationships.

• Enhancing understanding: By carefully listening to others, you gain a deeper understanding of their perspectives, needs, and expectations. This understanding enables you to tailor your responses and actions accordingly, resulting in more effective communication and collaboration.

• Fostering collaboration: Active listening promotes an inclusive and collaborative environment. By actively engaging in conversations and valuing diverse opinions, you encourage teamwork and create opportunities for innovative ideas and solutions to emerge.

• Resolving conflicts: Effective conflict resolution relies on active listening. By truly understanding the concerns and viewpoints of all parties involved, you can facilitate constructive dialogue, find common ground, and work towards mutually beneficial resolutions.

• Improving decision-making: Active listening enables you to gather all the necessary information to make informed decisions. By listening attentively and seeking clarification when needed, you avoid misunderstandings and make more informed choices.

• Enhancing leadership skills: Active listening is a cornerstone of effective leadership. By listening to your team members, you create a supportive environment, boost morale, and foster a sense of trust and collaboration.

If you feel that your active listening skills need improvement, you can work to enhance them.

5 examples of active listening skills

Active listening requires several hard and soft skills to be effective. Below are five examples of active listening skills.

1. Asking clarifying questions. Asking clarifying questions is a skill in and of itself. When you ask clarifying questions, you’re seeking to gain understanding, while also providing others an opportunity to explain concepts that might still be unclear to you. 

2. Paraphrasing. Paraphrasing is when you take what someone has shared and repeat it back to them in your own words. It helps the other individuals appreciate that you are listening and understand them. And, if you have misunderstood something, they have the opportunity to correct and clarify. 

3. Offering verbal affirmations. Verbal affirmations are an aspect of active listening where you acknowledge and confirm your understanding of what the other person has said. Verbal affirmations can also be used to encourage the other to continue speaking. They are typically short phrases, like “Yes,” “Uh-huh,” and “Go on.” 

4. Summarizing. Summarizing is similar to paraphrasing, though it’s a bit different. During summarization, which often occurs near the end of or during transitional points of a conversation, you summarize what was discussed, including key points and next steps. 

5. Demonstrating empathy. Empathy means you have the ability to see things from another's perspective without interjecting your own. Empathy helps others to feel seen, understood, and heard. 

How to improve your listening skills

Active listening is a skill that requires intention; you must actively engage your mind and senses in the communication process to truly understand and connect with the speaker. Often, you can improve your skills by simply practicing a few techniques. 

Here are 10 strategies on how to improve listening skills:

1. Practice mindful silence: Embrace moments of silence during conversations. Resist the urge to jump in with your own thoughts or interrupt the speaker. Instead, allow pauses for reflection and give the speaker space to express themselves fully.

2. Don't jump to conclusions: Resist the urge to interject with your own opinions, solutions, or judgments prematurely. Focus on understanding the speaker's perspective first before offering your input. This helps to create a safe space for open dialogue and builds trust.

3. Adopt a curious mindset: Approach conversations with a genuine curiosity to learn and understand. Go in with the perspective that you don’t know what you don’t yet know. 

4. Practice active listening in everyday life: Apply active listening techniques in various contexts, such as personal conversations, meetings, or even during phone calls. Continuously challenge yourself to be an active listener and observe how it positively impacts your relationships and understanding of others.

5. Take an active listening class. Seek out active listening classes that provide you with the opportunity to level up your communication game. Conduct a Google search for active listening courses or explore online platforms such as Udemy, LinkedIn Learning, and Coursera. 

6. Maintain eye contact. Eye contact is an excellent way to let someone know you’re paying attention and listening. That said, it can also be intimidating, so it’s okay to look away from time to time, while continuing to listen.

7. Don’t interrupt. In the same vein as mindful silence, be patient and allow others to fully finish their thoughts before you interject your perspectives, opinions, or emotional stance on a matter. 

8. Get comfortable with silence and pauses. We tend to be uncomfortable with silence, although it is where ideas and understanding can emerge. Allow for pauses during conversations that enable both parties to digest and consider their thoughts before speaking. 

9. Ask questions. As noted previously, an essential aspect of active listening is asking questions for clarification to ensure a clear understanding. Ask open-ended questions to delve deeper into the topic and encourage the speaker to share more information.

10. Watch for nonverbal cues. Active listening isn’t just about hearing what someone says - it’s also about noticing what someone is saying through their tone, facial expressions, and body language. Does their language line up with their facial expressions, for example? Also, pay attention to your body language, ensuring you’re representing yourself as calm and engaged as possible. 

How to use active listening skills for work

As you practice the many active listening techniques listed in the section above, you can more easily apply them in a work setting. Examples of times when you’ll find active listening skills to be highly beneficial include:

• Meetings with your supervisor

• Employee town hall meetings

• Debates with coworkers

• Times of conflict within your team or department

• Times when you’re getting to know new team members

• Department and team meetings

• Managers’ meetings with their employees or contractors

• Networking events (see example below)

• When you’re attempting to solve problems with customers, clients, and vendors

• When you’re attempting to sell services or products to consumers

What is an example of active listening?

Illustrating the practical application of active listening through real-life examples can help you to grasp its effectiveness in various situations. Let's explore a scenario where active listening plays a pivotal role in improving communication and fostering meaningful connections.

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Example – networking event

Imagine you're attending a networking event and you strike up a conversation with a professional contact, Sarah. Here's an example of active listening in action during this networking interaction:

You: Hi, Sarah! It's great to see you again. How has your experience been at this event so far? (open-ended question)

Sarah: It's been quite overwhelming, to be honest. There are so many people to meet and so much information to absorb.

You: I can understand how overwhelming it can be with the large number of attendees and all the information being shared. (reflecting what was heard and empathy)

Sarah: Exactly! It's hard to keep track of everyone and make meaningful connections.

You: It sounds like building meaningful connections is important to you. What qualities do you value in professional relationships? (paraphrasing and another open-ended question)

Sarah: I value authenticity and genuine interest. I prefer connecting with people who take the time to listen and understand my goals and aspirations.

You: I agree, authenticity and genuine interest are key elements for building strong professional relationships. (verbal affirmation)

Sarah: Absolutely! When someone truly listens and shows interest, it creates a sense of trust and openness.

You: Yes, active listening plays a crucial role in establishing that trust and fostering genuine connections. (acknowledgment and verbal affirmation)

Sarah: Definitely. It's refreshing to meet someone who understands the importance of active listening in networking settings.

You: Thank you, Sarah. I'm glad we share the same perspective. (appreciation)

Unlock career success through active listening

In a competitive job market, knowing how to improve listening skills becomes your secret weapon. By attentively absorbing information, understanding others' perspectives, and adapting your communication style, you showcase your professionalism and build trust with colleagues, clients, and superiors alike. 

Active listening enables you to truly understand the needs and expectations of employers, positioning you as a valuable asset and setting you apart from the competition.

Need help to ensure that your resume accurately illustrates key abilities like listening skills? Get your free resume review today!