27/10/2024
'Listen Up - Let's Summarize'
So you've demonstrated active listening throughout your session.
Now it's time to wrap up the conversation.
Here's a few more skills to demonstrate how well you've listened and importantly, enable them to consider the options discussed during their conversation to move things forward to being followed up (ideally towards a successful conclusion for all parties involved).
Paraphrasing is a powerful way to ensure that you and the speaker are on the same page. It conveys to the listener that you have been intently listening throughout the conversation. It's useful to check in to reflect back what you've heard accurately, using key words they've used to make sure you got it right. It also gives the speaker an opportunity to modify or augment the meaning of their words which can be very impactful to them when they hear them back.
Summarizing helps to wrap up conversation in a boiled down way. Restating the main points of the speak up conversation and identifying any options that the person wants to consider or indeed choices they may make. By summarizing well, you articulate their chosen next steps and goals, clearly identifying actions and ownership (including any that you have committed to during the conversation). It helps the speaker to have heard a consolidated essence of their conversation from a compassionate yet impartial third party. This part of the conversation also helps to frame the rules of engagement on what happens next and remind the speaker about any ethics or agreements such as ongoing conduct or confidentiality.
In the spirit of summarizing let's consolidate what we've covered in this Active Listening post to celebrate this FTSU month.
👂 'Pay attention' - The quality in which you pay attention, observe, notice, and listen.
👂'No Judgement' - Holding space for the person to process their challenge, rather than give them a solution. You do not have an agenda and do not offer your feedback – verbal or non-verbal.
👂'Self Awareness' - setting aside any preconceived ideas when you notice them. Become aware of your own internal commentary and tuning in to what the other person is saying.
👂'listen for emotions & feelings' - this is as much to pay attention to these signs of emotions and feelings as to get the speaker to register them too.
👂'Clarify to demystify' - Using techniques to ask the speaker to say rephrase, answer questions, add useful descriptions, context and examples to enable two way clarity.
👂'Empathy' - Support not sympathy. We do not need to compound feelings or turn them into a victim.
👂 'Self-Compassion' - Checking in with yourself that you are in a good place to do this conversation justice.
👂 'Summarize' - wrap it up with no loose ambiguous ends.
So that's a wrap. Happy FTSU month fellow guardians, champions and leaders 💚
