Active listening is a technique that consists in:

• listening what the other person is saying
• observing the verbal, non-verbal and para-verbal communication
• providing feedback asking questions and paraphrasing what the speaker is saying to know if what we have understood is what the other person was trying to deliver.

The purpose of active listening is to reduce misunderstanding. The difference with passive listening is that with passive listening the focus is listening to respond, while with active listening the focus is listening to understand.

Related Questions:

Related Topics:

• The downsides of active listening and how to mitigate them
• Communication

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