How To Improve Your Active Listening Skills

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Active listening is a process when you listen to the speaker mindfully. Providing feedback and observing the speaker’s body language are also important parts of active listening. You also need to be empathetic towards the speaker’s emotions. In fact, it is a part of effective communication. You need to remember that the art of listening is best embodied in active listening.

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To become an active listener, you just need to pay attention. Because being attentive is a key component of active listening.  For this purpose, you have to avoid distracting thoughts and external triggers that can create obstacles to being attentive.

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To ensure active participation ask open-ended questions. By doing so you can get an elaborate response from the speakers. It is also helpful to share feelings and attitudes. The communication should be both ways so that it seems interactive session that can yield fruitful results. You also need to ask probing questions and be attentive to the speaker’s feelings. You can paraphrase or help the speaker by summarizing the whole conversation.

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You can enjoy a lot of benefits of active listening in your personal as well as professional life. It will help you to build genuine connections with people. It is an effective skill that enhances networks in the workplace. It also plays an important tool for self-empowerment.