Active listening: choose the response
Five people tell you about something that is weighing on them. Choose what you would say back, then find out what each response does to the person who receives it.
What you take away
- Reflecting is not parroting: it means naming the emotion and the reason you heard, and letting the other person correct you.
- Advice and your own experience are not the problem; the timing is. Understand first, then ask: “Do you want me to listen, or should we look for a solution together?”
- When you feel the urge to fix things, play them down, or talk about yourself, pause for two seconds and start with “It sounds like…”.
This practice doesn’t save anything: if you want to keep your sentence from the “Your turn” section, copy it before you leave.