Listening Skills
ACTIVE listening
”Psychotherapeutic technique in which the therapist listens closely to a client, asks questions as needed, in order to fully understand the content of the message and the depth of the client’s emotion”
- APA
- Empathetic listening
- Pay attention to non-verbal cues
Reflective Listening
Reflective Listening
communication technique in which the listener tries to understand the speaker’s idea and then communicates it back to them to confirm it was understood correctly
Uses paraphrasing, summarizing, mirroring
paraphrasing vs mirroring
paraphrasing - saying the same thing in different words mirroring - repeating the key parts of the message word for word
Why?
Link to original
- reassurance that you are listening
- confirmation
- ensures everyone is on the same page
Personal Note
I find this absolutely annoying. It is super vital, because Semantics is important but the way it is executed usually is very poor, and jarring.
Empathetic Listening
see: Case Against Empathy “I understand”, “I feel you” statements
Non-Verbal Communication
body language, facial expressions, tone, voice modulation, gestures they provide additional context they must be attuned to the non-verbal cues of the speaker as well as be aware of their own
must not convey disinterest
Pointers / Things to remember
- do not interrupt
- minimal encouragers such as “mhm” and nodding your head to show you’re listening
- be sensitive
- suspend judgement
- open mind
- paraverbal communication