4.1 Techniques for active listening

Active listening is crucial for successful interviews. It involves verbal techniques like rephrasing, reflecting, and asking clarifying questions to ensure understanding. These methods show engagement and encourage interviewees to share more deeply.

Nonverbal techniques are equally important. Body language, facial expressions, and strategic silence demonstrate attentiveness and create space for reflection. Together, these skills help build rapport and extract valuable information during interviews.

Verbal Techniques

Rephrasing and Confirming Understanding

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• Paraphrasing involves restating the interviewee's words in your own words to ensure you have understood correctly
  • Shows the interviewee you are actively listening and trying to understand their perspective
  • Helps to clarify any misunderstandings and encourages the interviewee to elaborate further (nodding, saying "I see" or "Go on")
• Reflection involves mirroring the interviewee's feelings and emotions back to them to show empathy and understanding
  • Helps to build rapport and trust by demonstrating that you are attuned to their emotional state
  • Encourages the interviewee to open up and share more deeply about their experiences and feelings (reflecting tone, facial expressions, body language)
• Clarifying questions are used to gain more information or to clear up any confusion about what the interviewee has said
  • Helps to ensure that you have a complete and accurate understanding of the interviewee's perspective
  • Encourages the interviewee to provide more detail and context around their experiences and opinions ("Can you tell me more about that?", "What did you mean when you said...?")

Eliciting Further Information

• Summarizing involves briefly restating the main points of what the interviewee has said to ensure you have captured the key ideas
  • Helps to keep the interview on track and focused on the most important information
  • Provides an opportunity for the interviewee to correct any misunderstandings or add any additional details ("So, to summarize, you said that...", "Did I understand that correctly?")
• Open-ended questions are broad questions that cannot be answered with a simple yes or no response
  • Encourages the interviewee to provide more detailed and thoughtful responses
  • Helps to uncover new information and insights that may not have been revealed through more specific questioning ("Tell me about...", "What was your experience with...?")

Nonverbal Techniques

Demonstrating Engagement

• Nonverbal cues include body language, facial expressions, and tone of voice that convey interest and engagement in the conversation
  • Maintaining eye contact, leaning forward, and nodding along with the interviewee's responses shows that you are actively listening
  • Smiling, using an interested tone of voice, and mirroring the interviewee's body language helps to build rapport and trust
• Minimal encouragers are brief verbal and nonverbal responses that indicate you are following along with the conversation
  • Includes short phrases like "mm-hmm," "uh-huh," and "I see" as well as nonverbal cues like nodding and smiling
  • Encourages the interviewee to continue speaking and sharing their thoughts and experiences without interrupting the flow of the conversation

Creating Space for Reflection

• Silence involves allowing moments of quiet in the conversation to give the interviewee time to think and reflect
  • Resisting the urge to fill every pause with a question or comment can create space for the interviewee to gather their thoughts and share more deeply
  • Strategic use of silence can also encourage the interviewee to elaborate on their responses and reveal new insights
• Note-taking involves writing down key points and observations during the interview to capture important information and insights
  • Helps to keep track of the main themes and ideas that emerge during the conversation
  • Signals to the interviewee that you are engaged and interested in what they have to say (jotting down key phrases, quotes, or themes)