Active Listening (courtesy Anne Marie Sheridan)

Active Listening:

You can actively listen by using the following:

Non-verbal noises:
Allow the speaker to know that you are really listening to what they are together with the appropriate facial expression – a smile for example, head movement, body posture. The skilled use of these ‘hmm’ ah oh uhh can encourage the speaker to speak indefinitely

Supportive statements
These are the verbal equivalent of non-verbal noises. These are ways of saying ‘I’m with you’… keep going.
You can also use listening questions to support the speaker… can you give me an example? It seems as though?

Key word repetition
If you really are listening these can be picked up and can be used to encourage the speaker

Reflective statements
This is used to help the speaker see that you are with them and that you want to add on to what they have said. The most usual form of reflection is expressed as a statement and tends to begin with ‘you feel that…?’ ‘it seems to me that?’ These words indicate to the speaker that you are interpreting the emotional undertones of what is being said – and you are putting your finger on the deeper emotions behind the words and showing a real understanding of speaker’s feelings.

Physically demonstrate that you are listening:
This shows the speaker that you are ‘with’ them. Consider how you feel if you are talking to someone and they appear to be half asleep… who don’t look like they are listening. The trick in attending physically is to let people see that you are listening.