Over the past 3-4 years she has collaborated with Charlie Jones in convening weekly #SpacesForListening over zoom, listening to and connecting with many hundreds of people across the UK and beyond. She is passionate about creating more spaces for having more open conversations. People have commented on their appreciation of the ‘permission’ that #SpacesForListening seems to give us to take the time out for reflection, and just to be. They seem to find that the spaces feel human, safe, equal, caring, real, and honest. The essence of #SpacesForListening has always been listening and connection (rather than ‘well-being’ or ‘resilience’). Each space comprises a group of eight people, meeting together over Zoom, for about 50 minutes in total.
Can Better Listening Change The World?
This can help de-escalate tension because it means you acknowledge the views and feelings of the other person. Try to understand the speaker’s perspective to help you respond more thoughtfully and build stronger connections. When someone shares an emotional experience, acknowledge their feelings. Enhance your communication skills, improve your relationships, and become more empathetic by prioritizing active listening. Here are a few things to keep in mind while practicing active listening in your daily life.
Why We Should Focus On Listening
Offer your participants a handful of specific questions about the stories. The questions (pick 2-3) should be designed to lead to meaningful conclusions and, hopefully, lessons for the future. The best way to ensure meaningful critique is to solicit audio from participants that is NOT their favorite work. Suggest they bring stories of their own that challenged or puzzled them.
The Art Of Listening For What’s Not Being Said: Top 10 Tips
Consistently the feedback is that it is equally possible to create a sense of safety, and appreciative connection, within a space comprising colleagues who know and work with each other. Many people mentioned that in our work conversations, we often feel the need to act in some ‘helpful’ way. In contrast, the experience in #SpacesForListening is that listening and feeling heard is impactful enough. It is refreshing to be involved in a conversation that does not need to lead to concrete actions, in which there is no pressure to take responsibility or to offer others a ‘fix’. Instead, we experience being listened to, and hearing ourselves think out loud; we reach our own insights and find our own way.
- A simple way to train yourself to create safety is to AMPP up your listening skills.
- If you want to make sure you’re listening, try repeating the gist of what someone has said to you and then adding onto that topic.
- It takes work and practice, and the impact can make a significant difference in the quality of relationships, followership and overall results a person has.
- The questions (pick 2-3) should be designed to lead to meaningful conclusions and, hopefully, lessons for the future.
Set specific times of the day to check your phone or personal email to avoid unnecessary distractions. 💙 Practice Holding Space for the person you’re speaking with and giving them your full attention. Here’s what active listening looks like in real conversations, with phrases you can borrow for your own. Think about how you feel when you’re telling a friend about your day, and they’re nodding, asking follow-up questions, and responding thoughtfully. Now, think about how you feel when you’re having a conversation with someone who’s staring at their phone, zoning out, or clearly thinking about something else. And the next time someone asks if you’re a good listener, think very carefully before you answer.
This looks like creating a safe, accepting environment, engaging in attentive listening, and offering non-judgmental support. Research shows that holding space can reduce stress and Meetheage platform anxiety, enhance relationships, and improve mental health and well-being. While listening is often viewed as something that just naturally occurs through the simple act of hearing spoken words, in reality there is nothing simple about good listening.