11 Active Listening Exercises to Become A Better Listener

Contributors ought to break into teams of two or three for this train and have one devoted speaker. Instruct the speaker to inform a big story about their life, like an enormous accomplishment or problem they’ve overcome.

As they communicate, have the listeners stay silent and preserve a straight facial features.

After the speaker tells their story, debrief by asking what this felt like for every individual. Some questions to think about might embody:

This train might help exhibit the distinction that energetic listening makes for each the listeners and the audio system. It could assist listeners perceive the worth of providing acceptable suggestions when somebody is talking.

This exercise can simply be utilized to on a regular basis life when conversing. It’s a nice reminder to work together with anybody taking the time to speak with you to permit them to really feel heard.

For this exercise, every participant will want paper and a pen. Have everybody create a listing of non-verbal cues that listeners usually show. Then, every participant will act out one of many behaviors they recognized whereas the opposite gamers decipher the that means.

Whereas one individual shows a nonverbal habits, have everybody else write down the message.

Some non-verbal cues might embody:

After every spherical, ask the contributors to share how every nonverbal cue made them really feel. Then, speak about how a nonverbal cue may talk a message that’s even stronger than phrases. Have contributors share their previous experiences of how nonverbal cues have impacted their communication.

This train helps contributors establish nonverbal communication cues and might help set off individuals’s reminiscences throughout future conversations so that they keep away from displaying these behaviors.

Individuals are usually desirous to “get a phrase in” when listening to another person speak. For this exercise, divide a gaggle into pairs and have every individual inform their companion about one thing that’s essential to them for about three minutes whereas the opposite individual listens quietly.

After the speaker has completed, have the listener paraphrase what they heard in their very own phrases.

The speaker can then make clear, appropriate, or affirm the listener’s interpretation.

This sport has just a few goals. First, it may possibly assist listeners construct persistence as they can not interrupt the speaker. Second, it may possibly assist practice contributors to cease interested by what they wish to say in response and focus solely on the speaker’s message. In doing so, they are going to have the ability to exhibit an understanding of what the speaker stated.

This exercise goals to assist individuals observe restraint in reacting to others’ opposing viewpoints and maintain an open thoughts.

This could not contain an argument or confrontation–it ought to be a pleasant dialog to assist gamers get into the behavior of listening unbiasedly, even when talking with somebody who has a special viewpoint than your individual.

For this train, you will have two individuals with opposing viewpoints on a topic. Every participant should patiently hearken to the opposite’s viewpoint and attempt to be taught and really perceive how their companion reached their conclusions.

After every participant explains their viewpoint, the opposite individual is then given an opportunity to ask related questions to assist additional their understanding of the opposing viewpoint. Some questions that exhibit energetic listening may embody:

Finishing this exercise ought to make it easier to enhance your capability to have significant conversations by encouraging you to hearken to find out about a special perspective actively.

To pay attention successfully, maintain an open thoughts and don’t focus in your ideas or emotions concerning the matter—take note of what your companion is saying so you possibly can successfully hear what they’re saying. Utilizing this talent in future conversations might help cut back battle and enhance understanding.

This exercise is nice observe for future conditions the place a listener can’t reply to the speaker, maybe in a lecture or if the speaker is recorded.

For this exercise, have a frontrunner give verbal directions to contributors detailing how to attract one thing with out permitting the listeners to ask any questions. The article of the image will be something, however the extra directions concerned, the higher.

Some directions might be, “draw three squares with one star on high of the primary sq., then draw a circle subsequent to the star…” and so forth. This exercise will exhibit how essential it’s to pay attention clearly when somebody is making an attempt to speak one thing to you, and you’ll’t ask questions in return.

Guarantee the sport is difficult sufficient that contributors should focus very nicely to observe the directions and accurately draw the image. The exercise can change into more and more troublesome with each instruction, so that they gained’t accurately full the train until the contributors actively pay attention.

Energetic listening is essential on this exercise as a result of gamers establish truths and lies on a topic. This interprets into actual life, as energetic listeners should listen and pay attention with a discerning ear when gathering data from others.

This exercise requires one speaker and a small group of listeners. The speaker can decide any topic that pursuits the group after which speak about it for about one minute.

The speaker must be educated concerning the matter as a result of they’re tasked with telling the group a number of details about it–however the catch is that the speaker can even make a handful of false statements about it.

The gamers should pay attention fastidiously to catch the unfaithful statements the speaker says. The speaker ought to solely say every sentence as soon as, so it’s important for the gamers to pay attention very fastidiously.

Relying on the subject, gamers might have to focus on paying consideration, utilizing their mind capability to consider the topic, and listening for factual data. Strive selecting the subject as a gaggle so everybody can acknowledge the sentence errors.

For this exercise, one individual narrates a narrative whereas everybody else listens. As soon as the story is over, every participant is given a set of questions on it, starting from simple to complicated. The group has to reply the questions primarily based on the story they heard.

This exercise will present if every individual listened nicely sufficient to grasp and bear in mind the story they have been simply advised.

One other option to play this sport is to play a brief video or podcast after which have the contributors rewrite the story in their very own phrases, together with as many particulars as attainable.

This exercise interprets into on a regular basis life as a result of it offers energetic listening observe to ” train again” the story. The teach-back studying methodology helps individuals perceive the data they’re given.

8. Intentional Contradiction 

You may as well use the intentional contradiction exercise, a extra adult-appropriate model of the basic youngsters sport known as Simon Says. You and your group can observe your energetic listening abilities in a small or massive group, making this exercise relevant in numerous settings. 

Plus, you should use this exercise as an icebreaker, too! 

Right here’s the best way to play intentional contradiction: 

1. Decide a group chief and let your group kind a circle across the chief. You may as well have one chief per spherical, giving others an opportunity to “lead” the exercise. 
2. The chief offers the group two actions when sure objects are talked about. For instance, the chief will inform the group that once they say “water,” the contributors should elevate their left hand, whereas the contributors should put their proper foot ahead when the chief says “tea.” The chief additionally must do these actions once they say these phrases. 
3. The objective of the exercise is contradiction, so the contributors must do the other—put their proper foot ahead when the phrase “water” is talked about and lift their left hand when the phrase ” tea” is talked about.     
4. So, the chief can begin simply talking the phrases and doing the actions as instructed, and the contributors must do the other. Whoever doesn’t contradict the group chief, exits the sport (or doesn’t change into group chief for X rounds). Or the chief can weave a narrative and do the actions when the phrases “water” and “tea” are talked about. 

The contributors must pay attention actively and intently and listen to allow them to contradict the chief’s actions and win (be the final group member standing to change into the following chief or win a prize). 

9. Practice of Phrases 

This exercise jogs my memory of a model of the youngsters’ sport “phone” or “Chinese language whispers.” It focuses on energetic listening as a talent as a result of the participant(s) must pay shut consideration and observe their summarizing abilities. 

The energetic listening exercise known as the practice of phrases or the listening chain, and right here’s the way you set it up: 

1. Let all of the contributors sit or stand in a circle. 
2. Select the primary participant who’s interested by a subject. You may allow them to select a subject on their very own or allow them to draw a post-it word (with a subject) from a hat. 
3. They have to whisper a sentence or two concerning the matter to the individual to their left (or proper – resolve if you wish to go clockwise or anticlockwise across the circle).
4. The second individual then whispers the sentence or two to the following individual, and so forth till the circle is full. 
5. The final individual wants to inform everybody what was shared with them, and it’s about 99% possible that the unique sentence’s that means can be distorted to an extent.  

A variation of this listening sport is to have the contributors unfold out throughout a big corridor. One individual goes to the following and shares the story that the primary participant advised the second group member.

On the finish, have the contributors kind a circle and let the final participant share the story they heard as precisely as attainable.

10. Background Noise Listening

It’s often simpler to pay attention and listen when it is quiet, however when background noise is added to the combo, it actually assessments your listening abilities. That’s precisely the aim of this energetic listening exercise. 

This exercise requires a big group; alternatively, you possibly can file and/or play background noise over a sound system. 

Right here’s how to do that exercise: 

1. In a gaggle of 15 to twenty contributors, select six to eight to be the noisemakers. Instruct them to make as a lot noise as attainable, probably even beginning with much less noise and upping the ante. 
2. Select a speaker who’ll speak about an fascinating matter. 
3. As soon as the speaker begins talking, the noisemakers must make noise whereas the remainder of the contributors attempt to hearken to what the speaker is saying. The listeners can take notes of what the speaker is saying, or you may make the exercise tougher and have the listeners shut their eyes to allow them to’t infer that means from the speaker’s non-verbal cues.   
4. On the finish, ask the listeners to share what they heard.

11. Blindfold Impediment Course

The blindfold impediment course, or blindfold stroll, is one other wonderful energetic listening train because it teaches communication and listening abilities. 

You should utilize an ample indoor or outside house for the exercise, and obstacles are a should. 

Listed below are the directions for the blindfold impediment course or stroll: 

1. Select an space with pure obstacles or put obstacles within the house the contributors must navigate. 
2. Pair up the contributors. 
3. One individual in every pair must be blindfolded. 
4. The one who isn’t blindfolded will instruct the blindfolded group member on the best way to navigate the impediment course safely.   

The purpose is that you really want the blindfolded to soundly navigate the course with out obstacles and the non-blindfolded to instruct and information their companions clearly.

So there you’ve gotten it, 11 energetic listening workouts that you are able to do that will help you sharpen your listening abilities.

Hopefully, you possibly can combine a few of these actions into your schedule so you possibly can work on turning into an energetic listener and assist others do the identical.

For extra actions for profitable listening, try these articles:

Connie Mathers is knowledgeable editor and freelance author. She holds a Bachelor’s Diploma in Advertising and a Grasp’s Diploma in Social Work. When she just isn’t writing, Connie is both spending time together with her daughter and two canines, operating, or working at her full-time job as a social employee in Richmond, VA.