Effective Listening Why its Important

Effective Listening and Why It’s Important

Being a good listener is about more than just hearing the words that someone is saying. Effective listening is about understanding the meaning behind what someone is telling you. It is about being curious, asking for clarification, and validating what the other person is saying. It’s about showing the other person that you care about what they are saying and want to be there for them. A good listener makes you feel safe, wanted and understood.
If you have ever opened up to a good listener, you know how good it feels to have someone understand you. The opposite is also true. We’ve all tried to confide in someone, or simply have a discussion with someone and came out the other side feeling disrespected, misunderstood, or unimportant. What separates a good listener from a not-so-good listener?

Good Listeners Give Undivided Attention

When someone comes to you with something important to say, the acts of setting aside your cell phone or laptop, turning down the volume or pausing the TV, or just turning your body to face them do two powerful things. First, turning your attention, willingly, from what you were doing to the person who needs to talk allows you to focus all your attention on the conversation. This increases your capacity to understand the other person. Second, these acts all communicate to the other person that you care enough about what they have to say that you are giving it your full attention, making them feel safe and wanted.

Good Listeners Ask for Clarification

Even if you are giving your undivided attention to another person, it is still possible (and likely) that you might misunderstand what they are trying to say. They might also have difficulty putting what they are feeling/thinking into words. In this case, the best thing to do is to get clarification. That might sound like “I don’t think I quite understand what you are trying to say, could you try explaining again in different words?”, “What I think you are telling me is ______, do I have that right?”, or “Are you wanting my help to figure out a solution or do you just want to vent and have me listen?”. Asking for clarification allows for you to better understand what the other person is going through as well as the desired outcome of the conversation. It also communicates to the other person that you want to understand them and meet their needs.

Good Listeners Validate

Validating someone is simply communicating to them that what they are feeling is valid and that they have a right to feel it. It is important to note that you can validate someone without agreeing with them. Validation might sound like “I can understand why you are feeing this way”, or “I probably would have done the same thing”. Validation can be done through touch as well and might be a strong embrace or a squeeze of the hand to let the other person know that you are there for them. Validation makes the other person feel accepted and normal – like they are not alone.
Being a good listener is such a small thing that has incredible impacts on those around you and can improve your relationships tremendously. Being a good listener takes practice, most of us were not taught how to effectively listen when we were growing up. So, if you are unsure if you are a good listener, don’t beat yourself up – just try actively using these strategies the next time you have a conversation with someone!