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Active Listening

A Middle School Career Skill Activity

What is Active Listening?

The ability to focus completely on a speaker, understand their message, comprehend the information and respond thoughtfully.

Active listening involves attentively seeking to understand a speaker’s message, rather than passively hearing the words that a speaker says.

Active listeners provide verbal and nonverbal feedback to show their sincere investment in what the speaker is sharing.

Active listening can help to build trust within a conversation, thereby allowing the speaker to communicate more easily, openly and honestly

How strong are your listening skills?
There is always room for improvement!

5 Non-Verbal Strategies for Active Listening

“There's a lot of difference between listening and hearing.” ― G. K. Chesterton

How to Communicate Effectively

"Listening...involves a certain surrender, a willingness to sit with what one does not already know...Listening requires us to stretch a little beyond what we know, expect or want." - Diana Senechal

If you take two apples from three apples, what do you have? Answer: You have 2 apples!

1. Posture

Follow these tips to keep your posture open:

  1. Sit, stand, or turn towards the person speaking.
  2. Lean in to show interest.
  3. Avoid crossing your arms or legs.
  4. Do not place a physical object (i.e., table, desk, etc...) in between you and the speaker.

2. Eye Contact

Demonstrate to the speaker that you are interested in what they have to say and that you are listening to them by making eye contact. Keep in mind that continued eye contact can be intimidating. Use your best judgement to guide the amount of eye contact to use depending on the speaker and the situation.

3. Smile

  1. Demonstrate you are happy about the message.
  2. Help the speaker feel listened to and understood.
  3. Combine this with a nod of the head for extra encouragement to the speaker.

4. Distractions

  1. Avoid checking your cell phone or watch.
  2. Turn off or tune out anything that can cause distractions (i.e. computer, television, radio, etc.).
  3. Do not fidget. Tapping your foot, pen, or other item, doodling, or engaging in any other non-related activity can be seen as boredom, disinterest, or a signal to hurry the speaker.

5. Mirroring

1. This is done by automatically mirroring the facial expression of the speaker. This allows you to demonstrate your sympathy or empathy in a given situation.

2. Mirroring may take practice as it needs to be automatic and reflective to seem genuine. If you have to think about it too much it can be seen as insincere or fake.

6 VERBAL STRATEGIES FOR ACTIVE LISTENING

  1. Positive reinforcement- Say words such as 'Oh' or 'I see' to demonstrate understanding. However, use them sparingly as they can be distracting if overused.
  2. Remembering- Pay full attention so that you can remember key details of the conversation.
  3. Questioning- Ask questions based on key details that you have remembered so far. This encourages the speaker to share more information.
  4. Reflection- Restate words or paraphrase what was said in your own words. This demonstrates your understanding of what was said.
  5. Clarification-Ask open ended questions such as who, what, when, why, and where. Avoid questions that can be answered with yes or no.
  6. Summarize- At the end of the conversation you may want to summarize the information provided by the speaker to ensure you have an accurate understanding.

Say the word “spot” five times quickly. What do you do at a green light?

ACTIVE LISTENING AT HOME

You can start developing your skills now with some projects you can do at home.

Do as I Say, Not as I Do

Tell your friends/family that they are to do the movements that they hear you say and ignore the movements that you do.

Stand in front of them and give a verbal direction but do a movement that does not match. For example, say, "Clap your hands!" while jumping up and down. They should clap their hands.

  • Give 3 or more directions at a time while doing 3 or more movements that do not match your words.
  • “Jump up and down” (While you spin around)
  • “Clap your hands” (While you pat your stomach)
  • “Touch your toes” (While you touch your nose)
  • The correct action would be to jump, clap, and to touch their toes.
  • Switch roles and see how you do.

The Zen Den

Try this with your friends/family

Explore the K12 Career Education Navigator

he K12 Career Technical Education (CTE) Navigator helps you explore high school courses and career pathways offered across San Bernardino and Riverside Counties. Browse by industry sector, county, school district, and more to find options that match your interests and career goals and see how these pathways can prepare you for college, certifications, apprenticeships, or the workforce.

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CREATED BY
Workforce SBCSS

Credits:

Created with images by MelanieSchwolert - "talk telephone communication" • kyle smith - "Basset Hound" • Unknown - "Sculpture Bronze The Listening · Free photo on Pixabay" • Unknown - "Photo of Girl Listening To Music · Free Stock Photo" • Stefan Cosma - "While out and about at a music festival, snapped this while enjoy some good tunes!" • Alexis Brown - "Young people in conversation" • Trung Thanh - "The Moment" • Caju Gomes - "untitled image" • Charlz Gutiérrez De Piñeres - "Woman with a phone at a desk" • Pixel-Shot - "Adorable little African-American girl with mother's shoes looking into mirror near color wall" • Brett Jordan - "untitled image" • Unknown - "Listening Listen Upset Hands On · Free photo on Pixabay"