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Feature image for the Article '7 Unique Active Listening games, exercise and activities for Adults. Three women and one man, in casual attire, sitting in a corporate training room holding slips of paper and a drawing board for team building activity.

7 Targeted Active Listening Games, Exercises and Activities for Adults

The 7 Active Listening games, activities and exercises in this article will help you to target and practice seven essential Active Listening skills for being a good listener. They’re not simply warm-up activities! They are designed for adults (not children) and suitable for both personal listening development and workplace training workshops. Step-by-step instructions are provided.

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Listen with Empathy

Want to Avoid Poor Discussions? Listen With Empathy

Are you longing for more meaningful and satisfying conversations? Trying to truly connect with your clients and their needs? Desiring to foster greater rapport and trust with others? Wanting to avoid another costly misunderstanding? If any of these interpersonal challenges resonate with you then make it your ongoing objective to listen with empathy. In this article I describe the vital role of empathy in connecting with people in our personal and business lives. Then I offer ways to develop it.

11 Minute Read

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Listen for verbal and non-verbal cues to get total meaning. Step 2 of the Active Listening Process.

Non-Verbal Cues Help Avoid Misunderstandings. Here’s How – Step 2

We need to listen with both our ears and our eyes. Over 65% of the information in our discussions is conveyed using non-verbal cues. [1] But what are these cues and how trustworthy are they?  In this article we explore how to utilise these non-verbal cues to uncover the total meaning of a speaker’s message and to avoid misunderstandings. This is Step 2 of the Active Listening Process.

9 Minute Read

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Use Follow-up questions to seek more information - Active Listening Step 3

Follow-up Questions Are The Secret To Meaningful Conversations – Step 3

Imagine that you’re a healthcare worker in a patient handover meeting. The handover is going smoothly with the other worker sharing the important information you need. But in passing they make a comment that catches your attention. Do you let it go? Or do you probe further? Opportunities to glean more information occur all the time. In this article we look at Step 3 of the Active Listening Process - using targeted follow-up questions to draw out more information.

7 Minute Read

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2 Poor communication in prison inspired this blog - Picture of prison building and barbed wire gate.

Poor Communication In Prison Inspired This Blog

I’m astounded by how a few basic Active Listening techniques can make all the difference in daily life. 10 years ago poor communication relentlessly hindered me. Now I enjoy greater effectiveness in my work and deeper connections in my professional and personal relationships. The purpose of this GLS blog to help others experience this same transformation. Here’s the backstory of how this blog on good listening skills came about. It all began in prison...

5 Minute Read

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Man and woman laughing. Active Listening How To - 5 Easy Steps to Your Best Conversation Yet

Active Listening How To – 5 Easy Steps to Your Best Conversation Yet

Work and social discussions needn't be frustrating time wasters. Active Listening is the number one skill for transforming them into productive dialogues. In this 'Active Listening How To' article I strip the process right back to its fundamentals in five easy, immediately usable steps with examples - what it is and how we can use it in all our conversations to listen better.

15 Minute Read

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Know how to focus. 9 strategies for improving your focus. Man staring intensely at camera

How to Focus Better In Conversations: 9 Strategies That Actually Work

Ever been here? The discussion has been going for a while. Suddenly, silence snaps you back into the room. They’re awaiting your response… We all have. Our brains are wired this way and a certain amount of wandering is important for a healthy brain. [1] But when listening for crucial information, we need to know how to focus. Here are 9 strategies for helping improve your focus.

8 Minute Read

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2 7 Ways to Cultivate a Great Listening Attitude for Fruitful Conversations

7 Ways to Cultivate a Great Listening Attitude for Fruitful Conversations

Good listening relies on attitude. Proven listening techniques are essential to effective listening. But our listening attitude is the difference between those techniques bringing forth meaningful, honest, profitable conversations or hollow and insincere ones, which others can sense a mile away. Genuinely seeking to understand the speaker needs to be our top motivation.

10 Minute Read

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4 Emotional Intelligence Will Make You a Better Listener

Emotional Intelligence Will Make You a Better Listener

Emotions are integral to conversations. A speaker conveys vital information through their feelings and attitudes as well as their spoken words. And while listening, those ideas trigger emotions inside us, either supporting or opposing what we’re hearing. Emotional intelligence is knowing how to leverage these emotions in a manner that enhances our understanding of the speaker’s message. This is something that we can all develop.

11 Minute Read

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