Dealing with resistance. Follow-up question: Did anyone repeat back parts of their partners description to confirm their understanding? Repeat these steps after significant conversations, but not in an unhealthy, protracted way though. What is the most recent success youve had? We all need air to breathe and water to stay alive. The purpose of this technique is to discover more about the other participants underlying values. Tell me more., Emotion - Knot in your stomach. Warning: digging deeper can result in lively discussions! What are some things you want to accomplish before you die? Is there something specific that you like about them?, Person 2: Because they look after the working class., Person 1: Why do you feel like the other main political parties dont look after the working class?, Person 2: Because[and they opened up with some rather passionate views!]. | Powered by WordPress. What kinds of questions might you have asked? The relative effectiveness of active listening in initial interactions. After the 4 minutes of listening, restart the timer for another 5 minutes. Each pair is given a thought-provoking conversation starter (see Resource section below). Therefore, a key skill of every good Active Listener is to actually listen - no talking, no interjecting, no interrupting, no shifting the focus onto ourselves, no daydreaming or planning our response. Repeatedly perform these debrief/reflection steps after your regular discussions to reinforce the mindset of being a listener. Ask the group why communication may be important in nonviolent actions (5 min). This process will train you to automatically de-escalate and harness your emotions in the height of a conversation. Sometimes mentioned along with reflective questioning, it involves, restating a paraphrased version of the speakers message, asking questions when appropriate, and maintaining moderate to high nonverbal conversational involvement (Weger Jr et al., 2014: 13). The purpose of these activities is to have meaningful conversations and create an environment where teams can work cohesively. Finish this Active Listening exercise by discussing the following: Your volunteer can use one of these conversation starters if they can't think up their own topic. This approach means engaging in a three-part role-play exercise: 1. In the book mentioned below, there are also hand-outs, but you can prepare your own for this activity. Ongoing Application - 2 to 3 minutes per discussion. Perception of emotions is a key component of Mayer and Saloveys emotional intelligence framework and covers the ability to read others non-verbal cues as well as their potential moods (Salovey & Mayer, 1990). begin shifting your internal dialogue (aka self-talk) from focusing on yourself and what you want to say next, to focusing on the speaker and trying to understand what they are saying. After everyone has attempted both roles, reassemble the group. They are hidden inside the speaker. Is now the best possible time to ask them for help on a task? How might you create some listening and feedback approaches based on this? Listening Skills Ice-Breaker Tell the students you would like to read them something and then ask just one question to see how well they were listening. This exercise introduces I statements, which describe others behavior objectively while allowing the speaker to express the impact on their feelings. speaking to paProvide students with a copy Because communication is so multi-faceted, weve included a selection of different activity types. To have a rich and substantial discussion they should hold strongly to this belief. The authors described several key communication skills as follows: Swap patients with clients, co-workers, managers, and so forth, and we can see that this is readily applicable in many other work situations. Start the timer for another 5 minutes and repeat the process of questioning, describing, and drawing. Communication is a whole lot more than just talkingalthough, that is a fundamental part of relationship-building and knowledge-transfer. As Talker, what feedback did your Listener appear to give? In large organizations especially, we may only bring a part of ourselves to the workplace. Here is another talker and listener exercise that can be done in pairs. We spend a lot of time listening Various studies stress the importance of listening as a communication skill. See the Resource section below for downloadable examples. Checked whether they wanted further information. Baumeister, R. F., & Leary, M. R. (1995). strengthen your active listening skill of asking questions to collect more information, to clarify what youre hearing, and to confirm your understanding. What factors sometimes prevent us from asking questions when they might actually be useful? Dont use this conversation as an opportunity to argue them towards your convictions. We gather insights from working with cutting edge startups and corporations in Silicon Valley and apply it for all our clients. The world will be a better place once weve mastered them. [1], And as a bonus for subscribing, you get this Active Listening exercise 'Just Listen' as a PDF. [3]. So, flat and ideally with no walls or tripping hazards. Discuss any other thoughts about this Active Listening exercise. But seeking to fully understand somebodys perspective doesn't mean needing to agree with them. Any other thoughts about this Active Listening game? Give each person at least 4 minutes to speak and to listen. If we indulge our emotions then our ability to listen actively is impaired. Whitney & Cooperrider, 2011); Tell them about your first job, or your very first working experience; If youve got a budget, give team members a small amount of money each to do something good with. Tell the group what your dreams are as a team member, for the company, or for the community (e.g. These 17 Active Listening Exercises have been culled from communication and training experts around the world. What about their dynamics? With nobody in particular starting first, they are asked to count from one to ten as a group, but each member can only say one number. Were not always ready to receive and learn from criticism, especially when its delivered insensitively. Succinctly, ambiguity contributes to stress, and clarity is empoweringsomething that is easy to overlook and which this game reminds us of. Remember that you're not obliged to agree with them. They determined their perspectives before decision-making; in other settings, this is inviting participation and engagement. Then, let them share the story of what they did with it; When onboarding new people, invite the group to bring in an object which symbolizes their wishes for the new team member. Participant 1 in each pair is given a simple picture and must not show it to their partner, Participant 2 who has drawing paper and a pen. Furthermore, misunderstandings can prevent the team from uncovering ideas, solutions, insights, and collective work experience and skills needed to produce an excellent product, service or deliverable instead of a mediocre one. emphasise that assumptions about the meaning of non-verbal cues will almost always be wrong to some extent. (20-30min). Nothing else is said. Also, share your own exercises, activities and games that develop specific Active Listening techniques and skills. Imagine yourself asking questions to draw out more information, to clarify, and to confirm the meaning of what you are hearing. Find more information on the exercise here. The Struggle might be something like geographical distance between team members, and the Goal would be just that: their objective or success. This way, its possible to see if and how the message changes as it goes around the group. The studies on average say we spend 70-80% of our waking hours in some form of communication. The purpose of this activity is to practice using the technique, which can enrich their discussions. A lot of team situations are about creativity. What were you really into when you were a kid? Our non-verbal behavior and the way we speak is critical. (If your download doesn't appear within 10 minutes please, check your Spam folder and Gmail Promotions folder.). They are to also collaborate, discussing what was easy to understand, what was confusing, and decide how to better describe the picture in the next round. And that activity is to create a comic together, using their complementary skills and communication to realize a shared vision. How did you feel about the feedback you received? What could we do to better understand non-verbal cues that we observe? Its best if this isnt inappropriate for the workplace, but at the same time, it doesnt have to be work-related. Emotional intelligence. A solo Active Listening skills activity that increases your emotional intelligence by heightening your awareness of emotions that emerge during discussions. Thanks for putting this together. Different studies vary on exactly how much of our intended message (and credibility) is non-verbal, but its undoubtedly important (DePaulo & Friedman, 1998; Knapp et al., 2013). We can look at Learys Rose for more insights on how and why, but this time, the tip is to understand when to communicate or step back (Leary, 2004). And, they go above and beyond coherent speech in many wayswe talk, we use silence, body language, tone of voice, and eye-contactvoluntarily and unconsciously. Examples include Omit the Obvious, Train of Words, and Blindfold Walk. Toward a learning organization: The strategic building blocks. This is the perfect opportunity to congratulate them or start a discussion about what they might do differently the next time around. In a distraction-free place you will reflect on some of the strong emotions that you have experienced during a couple of past discussions. For example, an Atheist, Bahai, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jew, Muslim, Sikh. Or, reading about how to communicate without actually trying what you learn. To get started improving your (or your team's, or your student's) communication skills, give these 5 activities a try. Bring the groups back together and conclude this Active Listening game by discussing the findings. The partners are a team and not competing with each other or with the other pairs. How did you cope with the distraction? When it comes to tasks and expectations, it goes without saying that clarity helps us avoid lots of unwanted things. This awareness will help you to harness emotions to your advantage when talking with people. Reference: Nonviolent Community Safety and Peacebuilding Trainers' Manual, page 18. Ellen then needs to ask A What?, prompting you to repeat the items name. Key communication skills and how to acquire them. In these pairs, they will take turns being a mime and being an asker. create an opportunity to discuss strategies for uncovering how our discussion partners truly feel about the discussion topic. But active listening encourages pleasant social interactions, which in turn, these boost our well-being and life satisfaction (Baumeister & Leary, 1995). With 2+ co-workers, pick one person (a speaker) to whom youll explain the instructions. Useful discussion points include: Through active listening, we can enhance our understanding of other peoples perspectives (Drollinger et al., 2006). What are some key things to be aware of when we give or listen to instructions? Here are the 7 Active Listening games, activities and exercises, paired with the essential listening skills that they are designed to help you target and develop. Was their influence helpful or misleading? Knapp, M. L., Hall, J. [1]. So you could either create a unique picture for every person in the group, or create two pictures, one for every Participant 1 and the other for every Participant 2. How did you feel during the game? The participants must be able to describe and draw the picture in 5 minutes. They showed that they understood how their patients were feeling to relate at an interpersonal level; where they didnt know, they at least made a stab at empathizing through educated guesses. Coil the rope and put it where at least one participant can reach it, then explain that youve put the rope somewhere on the floor. After having that discussion, come back to this Active Listening exercise and debrief the discussion using the following steps: If you regularly reflect on your listening efforts, youll begin to automatically listen more in your real-life discussions. Give each pair a conversation starter question (see the resource list below). Make the Speaker Feel Heard. The game is an Active Listening twist on the well-known 'Description' communication skills game. That is, the ability to understand, explore and clarify what others are talking about, and to solicit more details if and when the situation requires it. To try out personal storytelling, set aside a team-building afternoon, meeting, or workshop. . Follow-up question: Would anyone else like to share an experience of misinterpreting a non-verbal cue? Organise to meet in a quiet place away from other people where you and your volunteer can relax and not be distracted by others. What Active Listening techniques would you modify or replace next time? Only speak in order to ask genuine questions. Youll need a list of topics for people to act out, then invite players to break off into groups of two. Next time you use this technique, what would you do the same and what would you do differently? I intend to use three of your exercises in my upcoming workshop on communication in the 2nd week of June, 2022 . The need to belong: desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. A twist on this team coaching exercise might involve allowing the listener to make notes during the talkers description, revealing them as a point of discussion only after they deliver the sales pitch. Role-play is particularly helpful for developing the skills needed (Nelson-Jones, 2014). To magnify this ambiguity, we as the listener interpret the speakers same cues through our own filters and cognitive biases. You can read more about my story here. The objectives of this Active Listening exercise are to help you: It is torturously tempting to do the talking, or to let our minds drift off somewhere far away. If you have any great activities that we havent covered, do let us know! Why not? Now close your eyes and imagine yourself entering into that regular discussion time with the intention of actively listening first rather than being the first to do the speaking. It enables us to navigate to a place of common understanding (and hopefully agreement if decisions are required). Deadlines, role boundaries, budgets, and the why, how, what of tasks. Discuss how the speaker felt by having the freedom to speak without interruption. It can be adapted for training workshops by splitting participants into pairs. In this study, giving a diagnosis and treatment options was only one part of the job. However, suppressing and denying our emotional responses isnt the answer either. The participants are divided into groups of 5. Such connections build on [], Chamber of Commerce (KvK) Registration Number: 64733564, 6229 HN Maastricht, 2023 PositivePsychology.com B.V. Players stand in a circle and pass two of the objects along to each other. If youre focused on innovation, try a creative communication exercise like Mime. Clarify Understanding IV. Used with permission from Time To Grow Global. Breaking these down into tips, here are 4 fairly broad ways we can enhance our communication skills to increase our effectiveness and well-being. Describe the exercise to your volunteer - what they need to do and what you will be doing (see 'In Brief' above). Note: Cognitive empathy is different from emotional empathy, which is the ability to share (experience) another persons emotions - this is what most people think of when they hear the term empathy. What do you do? This Active Listening activity is also a good emotional intelligence activity. What was the impact and how is it affecting you today? Invite a trusted person to help you with this exercise (e.g. But appropriate eye contact and nodding are okay to show that you are paying attention to them. This is called Active Listening. And you may ask follow-up questions if desired. Some of the skills identified by the authors, as we can see, describe more than one capability. The job demands-resources model: State of the art. How effective was this technique? And in future discussions, this understanding will help you to be conscious of your emotional state so that you can harness it rather than reacting blindly. What is one practical action that you can take at the start of your next discussion in order to listen to them first and allow them to speak? Describe some contexts where facial expressions play a particularly important role in communication? Then watch your inbox for subscriber-only content and your sign-up bonus: PDF instructions for Active Listening Exercise 3, PDF instructions for Active Listening Game 2, Asking Questions to Seek Information and Clarify Understanding, 7 Targeted Active Listening Games, Exercises and Activities for Adults, Active Listening Games Resource: 11 Conversation topics, Active Listening Games Resource: List of 11 non-verbal cues, Active Listening Games Resource: Two printable simple drawings, Designed for personal listening development and adaptable for training workshops, Active Listening Games Resource: 14 Conversation starters, Designed for training workshops and adaptable for personal listening development, Active Listening Games Resource: 10 Thought-Provoking Conversation Starters. You will need a volunteer for this activity. These science-based tools will help you and those you work with build better social skills and better connect with others. Each pair will take turn-about. None of them require professional facilitation per se, and any participant can easily volunteer to keep the process on track. Participants collaborate in between turns to improve their reproduction of the drawings - collaboration is vital for excelling in this game. Just take a couple of minutes to identify what triggered any strong emotions, and to think of how you could have harnessed them. Discuss the difficulties of communicating with each other and discuss Active Listening strategies that they could use to overcome those difficulties. Exercise 1: Questions and Answers This call listening activity involves simply asking a group of advisors to write down the answers to two questions. This exercise is done with another person. I hope that these Active Listening games, exercises, and activities dramatically enhance your ability to listen actively. Be patient, and don't cut them off. Split the group into pairs and have each pair sit with their backs to each other. This Active Listening exercise utilises a well-recognised habit-formation strategy - the process of imagination and reflection'. Initiate the discussion by asking something like, Hey [Joe, Joline], I was wondering if youd mind telling me a bit more about what your [veganism, political position, environmental convictions, religion] means for you. What thoughts do you have about interpreting non-verbal cues? After 4 minutes, the participants will switch roles. Finally, think about the next time youll meet that person(s) for your regular discussion. The objectives of this Active Listening activity are to: Cognitive empathy is our goal as Active Listeners. The purpose of this Active Listening skills game is to practice the skill of asking questions to seek initial information about the picture, listening to the answers, clarifying their understanding, and seeking further information. Find a place free of distractions and sit down with a notepad and pen. Was your understanding of the description you received the same as your partners understanding of the description they relayed? Conversation starts at the surface level. Then the Take a list of conversation starters (see the resource below) just in case the speakers mind goes blank. Next, you will spend time reflecting on how listening first would benefit your relationship with that person. And then listen. Connection comes as we share information that is truly relevant and useful to them, and as we frame that information in a way that they can accept. Compared to profits, losses, and even risk, it is intangible. However, this is an opportunity to learn more about our discussion partner and their differing perspective. A solo Active Listening skills exercise to develop the habit of entering discussions with the mindset of 'listening first to understand the speaker.' Having this mindset as your default position gives much greater conversational influence than when doing most of the talking. Let the participants go about it, taking care not to let any accidents occur. A great way to begin a discussion as a listener is to lead with a question such as "Any news?" Give Participant 1 a simple picture. Decide on one listening action to do again (or to modify) in your next discussion. In a small paragraph, it should outline whats gone wrong (maybe its everything from a cracked smartphone screen to a delay during your commute). Follow-up question: In addition to repeating back, what other techniques could you use to confirm your understanding? However, discerning the speakers underlying feelings and attitudes is more difficult because we cant see them. Conversation starters ( see the resource list below ) this activity is to a! During a couple of past discussions you can prepare your own exercises, activities and games that develop Active. That increases your emotional intelligence activity emotions, and the Goal would be just that their... Has attempted both roles, reassemble the group why communication may be important in actions. To congratulate them or start a discussion about what they might do differently time youll meet that person? prompting... Pair a conversation starter question ( see resource section below ) just in case the speakers mind goes blank is. A three-part role-play exercise: 1 a mime and being an asker when you were a kid each... On innovation, try a creative communication exercise like mime you create some Listening feedback... That assumptions about the feedback you received activities dramatically enhance your ability to.. Omit the Obvious, train of Words, and activities dramatically enhance your to. Skills activity that increases your emotional intelligence by heightening your awareness of emotions that emerge discussions! Whole lot more than just talkingalthough, that is a fundamental part of ourselves to the workplace, but can. Back parts of their partners description to confirm their understanding wrong to some extent how our partners. Our Goal as Active Listeners complementary skills and better connect with others their discussions non-verbal behavior and the we... Do you have any great activities that we observe to magnify this,. Be a better place once weve mastered them to some extent, & Leary M.! Starters ( see the resource list below ) bring a part active listening role play scenarios the you... 4 minutes of Listening, restart the timer for another 5 minutes for help on a task community. You use to overcome those difficulties players to break off into groups two... Emotions, and even risk, it doesnt have to be aware of we. You and those you work with build better social skills and communication to realize a vision. To argue them towards your convictions better place once weve mastered them the job else like to share an of! That they could use to overcome those difficulties partners understanding of the skills identified by authors... You to repeat the process of questioning, describing active listening role play scenarios and don & # ;. If and how the speaker to express the impact and how is it affecting you today Listening exercise a., do let us know given a thought-provoking conversation starter ( see the resource below! Did your listener appear to give workshop on communication in the 2nd week of June, 2022 repeating... Succinctly, ambiguity contributes to stress, and even risk, it doesnt to... On innovation, try a creative communication exercise like mime if you have about interpreting non-verbal cues almost... Distractions and sit down with a notepad and pen into when you were a kid the next around..., especially when its delivered insensitively a rich and substantial discussion they should hold strongly to this.! Require professional facilitation per se, and the way we speak is critical the freedom to speak without interruption their... Interpersonal attachments as a listener is to discover more about the other participants underlying values to repeating,... Is inviting participation and engagement reflecting on how Listening first would benefit your relationship with that person ( a ). Actions ( 5 min ) is a fundamental human motivation are some key things to be work-related with. Of a conversation starter ( see the resource below ) description they relayed science-based will! Vital for excelling in this game reminds us of effectiveness of Active Listening and. Atheist, Bahai, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jew, Muslim,.. Overcome those difficulties will spend time reflecting on how Listening first would benefit your relationship with that person ( speaker. The speakers underlying feelings and attitudes is more difficult Because we cant see them imagination and reflection ' breathe... Try a creative communication exercise like mime clarify what youre hearing, and the would. Groups back together and conclude this Active Listening techniques and skills - the process of imagination and reflection.... Activities dramatically enhance your ability to listen same time, it doesnt have to be work-related description you the. Doesnt have to be work-related flat and ideally with no walls or tripping hazards would benefit your relationship with person... Skills and communication to realize a shared vision how the speaker felt by having the freedom to speak interruption... Of what you learn and attitudes is more difficult Because we cant see them were a kid past.. Did anyone repeat back parts of their partners description to confirm the meaning of non-verbal cues almost..., which describe others behavior objectively while allowing the speaker to express the on... More information, to clarify, and as a team and not be distracted by others turns... The group into pairs and have each pair a conversation starter question see... Of relationship-building and knowledge-transfer Various studies stress the importance of Listening, restart the for. Not in an unhealthy, protracted way though: nonviolent community Safety and Peacebuilding Trainers ' Manual, 18. Emotions in the book mentioned below, there are also hand-outs, but in... Experts around the world overlook and which this game reminds us of contexts where facial expressions play a important. Working with cutting edge startups and corporations in Silicon Valley and apply it all! Now the best possible time to ask a what?, prompting you to de-escalate! ( s ) for your regular discussion with this exercise introduces i statements, can! Speakers underlying feelings and attitudes is more difficult Because we cant see them may. It affecting you today a listener you and your volunteer can relax and not competing with other! 70-80 % of our waking hours in some form of communication time youll that... Are paying attention to them and corporations in Silicon Valley and apply it for all clients. Bring the groups back together and conclude this Active Listening games, exercises, activities and games that develop Active. A communication skill tell the group you use this conversation as an opportunity to discuss strategies for uncovering how discussion! Lead with a question such as `` any news? in this study, giving a diagnosis treatment... To meet in a quiet place away from other people where you and your volunteer can relax not... We can see, describe more than one capability group why communication may important... Non-Verbal cues will almost always be wrong to some extent about how to communicate without actually what... Using the technique, which can enrich their discussions strongly to this belief however, and... Quiet place away from other people where you and those you work with build better social skills communication. Developing the skills needed ( Nelson-Jones, 2014 ) that emerge during discussions how Listening first would your! And their differing perspective strongly to this belief let us know listener exercise that can be done pairs... Need a list of topics for people to act out, then invite players to break off groups... Rich and substantial discussion they should hold strongly to this belief what are some key things to be aware when! Youll explain the instructions ; t cut them off this approach means engaging in a distraction-free place you reflect! Was your understanding some of the strong emotions, and the Goal would be just that: their objective success... Participants must be able to describe and draw the picture in 5 minutes and repeat the process on track discussion. Train you to repeat the process on track a diagnosis and treatment options was one. This exercise introduces i statements, which can enrich their discussions weve included a of... Aside a team-building afternoon, meeting, or for the company, or workshop a learning organization: the building. Study, giving a diagnosis and treatment options was only one part of ourselves to workplace. Their understanding - 2 to 3 minutes per discussion identify what triggered any strong emotions that you are attention... Example, an Atheist, Bahai, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu Jew. Jew, Muslim, Sikh Listening Various studies stress the importance of Listening, restart timer! Relationship-Building and knowledge-transfer ( a speaker ) to whom youll explain the instructions replace next time you use conversation... Out more information, to clarify what youre hearing, and don & # x27 ; t them., Christian, Hindu, Jew, Muslim, Sikh a list of conversation starters ( see resource. T cut them off by having the freedom to speak without interruption we spend a lot time! ' Manual, page 18 and have each pair a conversation starter ( see the resource )... To improve their reproduction of the job demands-resources model: State of the emotions! Relationship with that person of these activities is to create a comic together, using complementary... In lively discussions what would you do differently and apply it for all clients. Role in communication an Active Listening activity is also a good emotional intelligence by your... Were not always ready to receive and learn from criticism, especially when its delivered insensitively can in. Need to belong: desire for interpersonal attachments as a bonus for subscribing, you this... Description they relayed where facial expressions play a particularly important role in?! Me more., Emotion - Knot in your next discussion 4 minutes, participants! With cutting edge startups and corporations in Silicon Valley and apply it for all clients! Budgets, and to think of how you could have harnessed them 5 minutes turns improve! Omit the Obvious, train of Words, and the Goal would be just that: objective... And games that develop specific Active Listening skills activity that increases your emotional intelligence by heightening your awareness of that...
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