Empathic Listening“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you

made them feel.”

I hear you but I’m not listening!!Hearing comes naturally ,it is not an acquired skill. You don’t have

to learn to hear.

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Empathic listening is a way of listening  through consciousness

rather than physically just listening. Additionally, responding

to another person improves mutual understanding and trust.

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What is Empathetic Listening?

Empathic listening is when one listens with the intent to

understand how the speaker feels in addition to understanding his or

her ideas

Showing empathy involves identifying with a person’s

emotions and situation; even if not in agreement with them

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What are the Benefits of Empathetic Listening?

• Empathic listening is typically an effective technique to use in emotional situations, when there is a problem that needs resolving, or if there is a conflict present

• The goal is to enable the listener to share emotions free from judgment or criticism

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How do you Listen Empathetically?

Ways to listen empathetically

“You feel…”

“It seems like…”

“As I understand it, you sound…”

“It appears as if…”

“If I hear you correctly, you’d like…”

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Steps for Empathic Listening

1. Listen carefully to the speaker’s messages, both verbal and nonverbal

2. Display an open, caring posture

3. Consider the speaker’s emotional state

4. Calmly reflect back what you perceive the speaker’s feelings and meaning to be

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Behaviors to Avoid

• Questioning or Probing

• Judging

• Criticising

• Lecturing

• Advising

• Interrupting

• Giving autobiographical responses (e.g. “when I was on that team…”)

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Empathic Listening Tips

• Be interested in the speaker

• Have good eye contact and body language

• Minimise distractions

• Invite the speaker to expand on his or her thoughts

• Respond in a tone that is appropriate for the situation

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Points to Remember

• Empathic listening is about the speaker, not the listener

• It is not necessary to use empathic listening during an entire conversation; it is primarily a way to understand another person’s point of view

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• Anyone who interacts with other humans can benefit from learning how to listen empathetically;

regardless of gender, race, religion, or age.

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Learning to listen empathetically not only teaches people to focus, absorb and retain more, it more importantly teaches

people to get along and work out their differences by seeing things through the other person’s perspective.

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People from western cultures seem to be behind the rest of the world when it comes to empathetic listening…

As a matter of fact they are viewed by other cultures as better talkers than listeners.

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No matter who you are, where you live, or what your religion – when we truly need to be heard we speak to the greatest “empathetic listener,” known to mankind…