Many times you may have wondered what active listening is and if you do it correctly. First of all, this is a human ability that focuses on listening carefully with whom we are having a conversation. It is not about listening to respond, but about understanding the message that they are transmitting to us at that moment in order to intervene effectively.
This is a skill that many people value. Companies even highly consider this virtue among their job candidates.
By practicing active listening you can apply certain techniques that will make the other person feel more comfortable, for example:
* Empathy: This means being able to put yourself in the place of the other to understand what they express, that is, it does not imply agreeing with their opinion, but it does imply putting yourself in their situation to understand them.
* Interest: This is an important signal to hold a conversation where one person speaks and the other listens indistinctly, both showing interest in the information being offered.
* Reinforcement: This can be used through verbal and nonverbal language, for example, through expressions of assent or exclamation and admiration, with which you will be expressing your agreement and active involvement in communication.
* Paraphrasing: This is an important aspect that makes the person who is transmitting a message feel very good, so if we repeat their own expressions we will make them perceive that they are being heard and understood.
* The questions: If you listen attentively and engage in the conversation, asking questions to find solutions, learn more facts or better understand is equivalent to being fully involved in the communication.
Certain verbal and non-verbal signals can also be emitted that will indicate to the other person that they are being listened to, such as: * Make eye contact, which is also similar to showing sincerity. * Offer a slight smile, which indicates to the other that the information is being received well and that there is motivation to continue talking, and is in a way a reinforcer and message of empathy. * Mirroring, which is considered to be the reflection of any expression on the speaker's face. * Giving compliments like “you did really well”, “you're really good at that”.
What is the importance of active listening?
Active listening shows that whoever puts it into practice is concerned about understanding and listening to what happens to the other. It is also an opportunity to empathize with situations, emotions and behaviors of other individuals, as well as to put oneself in their place, thereby developing empathy, getting to know them better and improving knowledge or acquiring data about what is heard from a person. There are various examples of active listening, such as the fact of not making interruptions to intervene at that moment, but doing so after that person finishes expressing what they want. Practicing active listening is not as simple as it seems, on the contrary, it requires effort and the use of our empathic and cognitive capacities, since it is not about listening passively, not only what someone else is telling us, but also the feelings and emotions involved. , the thoughts and ideas that are in the background of what is being expressed to us. Emotional validation and feedback are also very important, which means listening without judging and communicating what has been understood to the other person, firstly, identifying what they say, their goals and feelings. What shouldn't you do that is contrary to active listening? Undoubtedly, you should not incur in the following: distract yourself from the conversation, interrupt the speaker, impose or judge him, offer your support or help in advance without having all the information, do not validate what the other feels, disqualify his opinion or make their own story prevail during the conversation. In short, active listening is an art, and you may well develop the skill to communicate effectively.
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