Active listening is one of the most important ingredients in communication and this is often the weak point of the interaction. There is no active listening when, within a dialogue, there is no openness towards the other. That is, there is no mindfulness in what the other person wants to express. Something that may be different from your own opinion, however, active listening means attending with respect to the other person.
Understand from empathy
There are different forms of active listening. For example, you can take the words of your interlocutor as a starting point to present your argument. For example, you can synthesize their main ideas, repeating them in your own words. In this way, you establish bridges of dialogue. Active listening also involves asking the other person questions to deepen the conversation.
One of the most important points to start active listening is not to judge the other person. And respect their emotions, feelings and experiences. This active listening is one of the most important emotional intelligence skills, and it connects in a direct way with the empathy of looking into the eyes of another, like another. That is, as someone other than you whose opinions are also conditioned by their own life history and experience.
To listen actively it is very important to have a disposition of time towards the other person.
That is, show interest in that present moment shared in common. Attend to the other without constantly looking at the clock. And although it may seem that active listening is a very simple skill to train in today's society, the reality is that new technologies encourage dispersed attention as reflected by the habitual telephone interruptions in a face-to-face dialogue.
Listen to body language
Active listening also involves paying attention to signs other than verbal communication. For example, you can attend to the body expression of the other person, his look and his smile, as facial signs express without saying words. In that case, more than listening to body language, it is about observing it. It is a very important complement of information added to the words themselves.
If a person has told you that they want to talk about an important topic with you, you can make the gesture of making an appointment to chat. Active listening shows the intimacy that is created in some conversations when an emotional connection arises.
Photos: Fotolia - panjj - Lorelyn Medina
