How to Be a Good Listener

No matter how good you get at reframing, the single most important rule about managing the interaction is this: You can’t move the conversation in a more positive direction until the other person feels heard and understood. And they won’t feel heard and understood until you’ve listened. When the other person becomes highly emotional, listen and ack... See more

Listening empathetically is nice to do because it makes people feel good, and it deepens relationships. But listening is good for you anyway, even if you don’t care about niceness or feeling good. If you want to get your way, you’ll have to bring people over to your side, unless you have enough power to stably coerce them.