Overview:

Imagine how it would be if all our conversations were built on positive solutions and building mutual understanding. Empathetic – also known as active or reflective listening – is a skill that helps to bring optimum clarity to a conversation. The ability to do this well helps to create, sustain and repair relationships by building trust and easing tensions. A focus on positive communication guides the discussion to the most useful destination. Energy invested in these processes tends to bring a healthy return. We shall consider the pressures that conspire against us when we listen and key guidelines for empathetic listening. How to screen out interruptions from our own internal dialogue and harness the challenges to turn them into supportive mechanisms. Examine the words which turn sunlight into a discussion and what communication “tweaks” strengthen a positive message.

One-day course outline:

• Welcome and Introductions.
• Course objectives, personal objectives.
• Hearing versus listening.
• Reasons for listening.
• Empathy – why it is important and how we can develop the skill.
• Definition of communication.
• Barriers to good communication.
• Close up on listening as a multi – faceted process.
• General listening challenges – operational.
• Attitudinal challenges to listening.
• How good a listener are you?
• Signs of a bad listener.
• Signs of a good listener.
• Stages of empathetic listening.
• Activating empathetic listening – physical and psychological.
• Effects of positive versus negative communication.
• Negative and positive terminology.
• Physical and vocal qualities of positive communication.
• Qualities of negative communication.
• Examples of negative communication.
• Effects of negative communication.
• Qualities of positive communication.
• Examples of positive communication.
• Effects of positive communication.
• Establishing rapport.
• Summary, review and questions.
• Action plans.

One-day course outline:

• Understanding the process of empathetic listening.
• Recognising why listening properly can be so challenging.
• Structures to support empathetic listening.
• Techniques for communicating positively, even when we’re saying “no”.