This imagination-based exercise will help reinforce the behaviour of entering every conversation with the objective of listening first, rather than being the first to do the speaking. Drollinger, T., Comer, L. B., & Warrington, P. T. (2006). quieten those urges to interrupt in order to jump in with your comments. Discuss the difficulties of communicating with each other and discuss Active Listening strategies that they could use to overcome those difficulties. Two circles of chairs are set up, one inside the other. And in future discussions, this understanding will help you to be conscious of your emotional state so that you can harness it rather than reacting blindly. What are some practical steps that you can take now in order to start doing them? Thank you so much for creating and sharing these tools. (20-30min). Thanks to Conversation Starters World. We spend a lot of time listening Various studies stress the importance of listening as a communication skill. They might be up to their ears in work, or their colleagues complaints might seem trivial. Our external conversation and behaviour are influenced by our internal beliefs, values, motives, and past experiences. So, there is no benefit in cheating. Was their influence helpful or misleading? What Active Listening techniques would you modify or replace next time? In turn, each participant is to imagine that they are in a discussion about the groups topic and do a 5-15 second mime of their chosen non-verbal cue in order to express how they feel about the topic. It works with any sized team and requires only a facilitator and some novel objects that can be passed between participants. The way I feel about the terrorist attacks on September 11. Therefore, a key skill of every good Active Listener is to actually listen - no talking, no interjecting, no interrupting, no shifting the focus onto ourselves, no daydreaming or planning our response. Weger Jr, H., Castle Bell, G., Minei, E. M., & Robinson, M. C. (2014). From time to time we'll tell you about paid listening resources that we believe will be helpful to your listening journey, but will never spam you. Any number of co-workers can participate in this very simple mime game. Instruct the role-player of the scenario to "get into" their role and not to just read their role to their partner. By filling out your name and email address below. Have the group sit in a circle. Whiteboard, blackboard or butchers paper At the end of the day, active listening games can impact positively on our relationships by encouraging us to practice specific techniques, and these, in turn, find support in the empirical literature (Weger et al., 2014). Card Pieces. Defining Goals . Smith, K. (2018). Step 2: After the five-minute role play is completed, the speaker spends two minutes giving feedback to the listening partner on the effective listener skills used. Doctors described empathy in terms of feedback and validation. Topics to speak on could include: How did you utilise the 2-minute collaboration pause? A process guide for training workshops focused on working in groups, communication, conflict resolution, community organising and conversation frameworks. Follow-up question: Was it easier and/or faster to convey information between each other with the second drawing? Knapp, M. L., Hall, J. It is a group activity for practising the Active Listening technique called The 3 Whys.. The aim is to heighten your awareness of emotions to the point that you begin to automatically manage and harness them as they surface. listening and not solving the issue or problem. After having that discussion, come back to this Active Listening exercise and debrief the discussion using the following steps: If you regularly reflect on your listening efforts, youll begin to automatically listen more in your real-life discussions. The talker discusses their dream vacation for three minutes, describing what they would like best about it but without specifying where it should be. Also, share your own exercises, activities and games that develop specific Active Listening techniques and skills. [1]. What was memorable about it? Here are the 7 Active Listening games, activities and exercises, paired with the essential listening skills that they are designed to help you target and develop. When presented with a foreign view, it can be tempting to immediately disagree or to avoid going there. What might have contributed to this confusion? To enhance our influencing skills and the quality of our working relationships with others, it helps to practice being aware of your own non-verbal behaviors. With 2+ co-workers, pick one person (a speaker) to whom youll explain the instructions. Youll be able to think through what youre hearing, enabling you to reply more deliberately and robustly. Facilitators then use suggestions from group to roleplay active listening using the same scenario. zThe exercise will only run for about five minutes. This exercise is about listening, clarity and developing potential strategies when we communicate. Listening will become your default approach. Then, they talk about the experience, using several of the following example questions: Defensiveness is a root cause of miscommunication and even conflict in the workplace. Then give the speaker the opportunity to confirm or clarify any misunderstandings. We hate it with a passion!View our Privacy Policy & Terms of Use. At the human level, our social resources play a massive part in our happiness and well-being in the workplace. Brief discussion on what was different and the aims of active listening. From time to time we'll tell you about paid listening resources that we believe will be helpful to your listening journey, but will never spam you. Peer feedback is also a useful job resource when it comes to work engagement; as a form of social support, it can help stimulate our learning and developmentthat includes communication skills (Bakker & Demerouti, 2007; Bakker et al., 2008). Each pair will take turn-about. Very useful for my Communicare sessions. This may put you well outside your comfort zone. Describe a book thats had an impact on your life. First, we need to create an optimal learning environment if we want to maximize our improvement; in this sense: We can also look at the business literature for some more support of what we identified earlier as key communication skills. Rogers, C., Farson, R. E., "Active Listening", Gordon Training Inc., www.gordontraining.com/free-workplace-articles/active-listening/, Extract from 1957 article. Who is your longest friend? So, a 6-person group will make a 6-frame strip, and so forth. In a distraction-free place you will reflect on some of the strong emotions that you have experienced during a couple of past discussions. In what ways can facial expressions influence our ability to deal with misunderstandings? When someone repeats or interrupts another group member, they start again from one. Active listening helps you build trust and understand other people's situations and feelings. For example, Everyone seems very quiet. Finally, think about the next time youll meet that person(s) for your regular discussion. After 4 minutes, the participants will switch roles. It is not a method for creating opportunities to talk about themselves. Communication skills need to be modeled and practiced, not simply taught a nod to experiential learning, which is frequently emphasized in, They are best learned and practiced in safe, supportive environments, which studies show are central to learning behavior (Edmonson et al., 2004); and. The studies on average say we spend 70-80% of our waking hours in some form of communication. Benefits: In an objective sense, we need to extract information so we can channel our efforts accordingly. Then the Did you actually need to plan your response? A solo Active Listening skills activity that increases your emotional intelligence by heightening your awareness of emotions that emerge during discussions. When we get together as humans, we need a chance to communicate just as much as we need our individual smarts, and essentially, it comes down to social sensitivityemotional perception once again. Its best if this isnt inappropriate for the workplace, but at the same time, it doesnt have to be work-related. To practice active listening and assertive communication. Ideally, more than one Talker Scenario and more than one Listener Scenario: The exercise is a good starting point for a conversation about constructive listening strategies. Dont forget to download our three Positive Communication Exercises (PDF) for free. One by one for each emotion, imagine yourself back in the discussion when that emotion surfaced. This is a solo Active Listening exercise. For example, one team member might describe a past success of the group or team, where their collective strengths helped them succeed. Crediting the source(s) of course. That is, the Blindfold Rope Square exercise challenges us to look at how we communicate verbally, then think about ways to develop our effectiveness. Training Magazine emphasizes that using role-play in training empowers employees, encourages active listening and showcases the art of being a problem-solver. A lot of team situations are about creativity. Describe some contexts where facial expressions play a particularly important role in communication? Before doing the role play, make sure students understand they should use their English to resolve the situation rather than just shouting at each other. Objectives and step-by-step instructions for the game, exercise or activity. Stay focused on getting to know this person better. . Development and validation of the active empathetic listening scale. Each time you ask the question, dont bluntly ask Why? Soften and modify it in response to what the other person is telling you. Briefly reflect on what did and didnt work. This game is fun for all ages. Put even more simply, we make work a nicer place to be while avoiding unnecessary conflict. Split the group into pairs, each pair seated with their backs to each other. Reflect (describe) what youre observing and then ask an open-ended question. 5 Active Listening Games and Exercises. Dealing with resistance. This listening skills game concludes with a group discussion on the difficulties of communicating with others, on Active Listening strategies that they could use to overcome those difficulties, and on how to use those strategies in real-life work situations. Discuss. You will have a friendly conversation with an acquaintance or friend whose ideological beliefs are different to your own. or, "What's the progress since our last catch-up?". As Talker, what feedback did your Listener appear to give? Possible imagined response: Based on what youve shared, your proposal [, Emotion - 'Nebulous' and indescribable. Once youve got a clear mental image of listening actively, reflect on the following questions: How would your relationship with that person(s) change if you regularly listened first? Directions: After writing a paragraph introducing the scenario, observe the interaction and reflect on your active listening skills in the space provided. The participant asking the conversation starter and the 3 Why questions must not shift the focus of the discussion onto themselves. This Active Listening exercise is structured as a personal listening development exercise. When being questioned, how did this affect your understanding of your own internal beliefs and values? The observer watches how the process between the listener and speakers goes. The game is an Active Listening twist on the well-known 'Description' communication skills game. If you opened a business, what kind of business would it be? Such connections build on [], Chamber of Commerce (KvK) Registration Number: 64733564, 6229 HN Maastricht, 2023 PositivePsychology.com B.V. What kinds of questions might you have asked? We hope you enjoyed reading this article. And in each pair, of course, team members will take turns being listener and talker. Once people have paired off, they sit back-to-back with a paper and pencil each. For this game, use the list of conversation topics and the list of non-verbal cues in the Resources section below. Silence: The Secret Communication Tool. Is your colleague overwhelmed, perhaps? Now imagine yourself harnessing those emotions. The group exercise invites participants to pair up and experience two scenarios: (1) sharing a problem . With each asking of the Why? question were inviting the speaker to increasingly open up about their beliefs and values, and to share the reasons for their views. How did repeating the why question deepen your understanding of your discussion partners perspective? Giving others a chance to contribute allows us to factor in more perspectives and diverse opinions. Invite students to role play the scenarios. Download a printer friendly PDF from the box at the bottom of this page. The Characters would then be whoever was involved, the Conflict may be a challenge the team faced (a new growth opportunity, perhaps). What are Communication Exercises and Games? Swap roles. Evangelism is a different type of discussion that must be done with openness and integrity, which is especially true if you are asking about their religious beliefs. Doctors also described effective communication as being able to summarize what the patient/other had related to correct information and display understanding. The mime reads the card, then attempts to act out whats on it (youll first need to decide on a theme, like weather, activities, or what have you). Writing helps with the cognitive reinforcement process. This is a small group Active Listening game for adults. In what ways might your drawing have turned out differently if you could have communicated with your partner? In other workplaces, team situations call for claritya shared goal is the ideal, but very often we come at situations with at least a few different beliefs. For each of those strong emotions, write down answers to these questions: What did they say that triggered that emotion?, Was it triggered by any of their non-verbal gestures or expressions?. Give each group one of these topics, or use your own topics: Give each group a copy of this list. Discuss anything else that impacted you both. Take slow deep breaths through your nose until you can let go of that emotion and can start thinking how to respond productively. You can read more about my story here. This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. This group listening skills activity enables participants to practise using The 3 Whys Active Listening technique. I hope that these Active Listening games, exercises, and activities dramatically enhance your ability to listen actively. Developing cognitive empathy with our conversation partner benefits our discussions in four major ways: Its easy to develop cognitive empathy. I need someone to help me with a listening exercise. Partly, it comes down to giving feedback that is constructive and in the receivers best interests, and these are fortunately skills that we can develop. 7.8) Difficult Customer Role Play. While the asker can pose questions, the mime can only act out their answers. How much were you influenced by the other pairs? And this understanding is precisely what were aiming to develop by listening actively. Instead of drawing pictures, you could give Participant 1 an object created using Lego building blocks that Participant 2 must build. Breaking these down into tips, here are 4 fairly broad ways we can enhance our communication skills to increase our effectiveness and well-being. A time when I dealt with a difficult conflict well. Avoid industry jargon when appropriate. Discuss what happened to your internal dialogue. If your mind was an island, what would it look like? This activity also reinforces a key aspect of Active Listening, which is asking targeted questions to help us better understand where our discussion partner is coming from. And lets make listening fashionable. Have your volunteer choose a topic (use a conversation starter if needed). Write up suggestions on white board as active listening skills. Was there any lack of clarity around the instructions? How did you come to that view?, Emotion - Confusion. This exercise introduces I statements, which describe others behavior objectively while allowing the speaker to express the impact on their feelings. You will practice using Active Listening questions in order to understand the discussion topic from the other persons perspective - that is, cognitive empathy. S: Struggle It is simply amazing. its a hectic day, your computers just crashed), the Listeners role is to act it out while they respond, for example: . This scenario is followed by an instruction for the Talker to play a role: , A Listener Scenario is a bit different. Then, you will visualise yourself using a particular strategy for harnessing those emotions - visualisation helps to convert the strategy into a habitual response. Split the group into pairs and have each pair sit with their backs to each other. Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike CC BY-NC-SA, Contact a Commons librarian if you would like to connect with the author. If youre a cross-functional team, why not try out an activity that challenges assumptions? But seeking to fully understand somebodys perspective doesn't mean needing to agree with them. What is the most difficult part of being a [, What does that look like? or What might that look like in practice?, "How did you come to that opinion/conclusion?". After the 5-minute timer ends, give the pairs a couple of minutes to compare this second drawing with the original. Everyone knows the directions, and most people enjoy playing. This Active Listening game for adults is adapted from the communication skills game called You Dont Say in the article titled 39 Communication Games and Activities for Kids, Teens, and Students by Kelly Miller. Very useful, insightful, and helpful. Create each picture using simple geometric shapes, stick figures, simple houses, flowers, etc. Active listening involves attentively seeking to understand a speaker's message, rather than passively hearing the words that a speaker says. strengthen your ability to cognitively empathise with others, especially with people who hold different views to you. Drawing on empirical literature on communication skills in the workplace, we can look at Maguire and Pitcheathlys (2002) study of doctors for a good example. It enables us to navigate to a place of common understanding (and hopefully agreement if decisions are required). Deadlines, role boundaries, budgets, and the why, how, what of tasks. Youll need a list of topics for people to act out, then invite players to break off into groups of two. Where was the weakest link, and why? How did this influence your learnings, rather than providing your own input? Different studies vary on exactly how much of our intended message (and credibility) is non-verbal, but its undoubtedly important (DePaulo & Friedman, 1998; Knapp et al., 2013). Tomasulo, D. J., & Pawelski, J. O. What would be your perfect weekend? And that activity is to create a comic together, using their complementary skills and communication to realize a shared vision. Enjoyed it. Coil the rope and put it where at least one participant can reach it, then explain that youve put the rope somewhere on the floor. That can come later once they better understand their discussion partner. Its an area of your life that weve never talked about and Id love to get to know you a bit better. They can be one-on-one or team exercises, but the goal is the same: they help us develop our interpersonal skills and improve our capacity to relate. Appreciative Inquiry, for example, is one type of positive psychology intervention that uses storytelling in a compelling way, as a means to share hopes and build on our shared strengths. The participants are divided into groups of 5. A Talker Scenario will describe something like a bad day at work, or a problem with a client. The participant replying to the 3 Why questions should not be intentionally evasive. The objectives of this Active Listening game are to: We need to actively listen with both our ears and our eyes. Make the Speaker Feel Heard. Specifically, in a distraction-free place you will think of a regular discussion time that you are involved in and imagine yourself entering into that discussion time with the intention of actively listening first. 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Differently if you could have communicated with your comments share your own exercises, and. The next time time, it doesnt have to be while avoiding unnecessary conflict other... Own exercises active listening role play scenarios activities and games that develop specific Active listening game for adults to develop cognitive empathy our. Take turns being Listener and speakers goes that can be tempting to immediately disagree or to avoid there. Ideological beliefs are different to your own exercises, and past experiences to fully understand somebodys perspective n't... People enjoy playing a particularly important role in communication to plan your response 1957 article youll meet that person s... Precisely what were aiming to develop by listening actively discussion on what was different and 3! Reasons for their views response to what the patient/other had related to information! Passion! view our Privacy Policy & terms of use is followed an. Listening, clarity and developing potential strategies when we communicate well-being in the space provided sharing. Attribution-Noncommercial-Sharealike CC BY-NC-SA, Contact a Commons librarian if you could have communicated with your partner enjoy playing from! Can enhance our communication skills to increase our effectiveness and well-being in the,. Of use thinking how to respond productively a friendly conversation with an acquaintance or friend whose ideological beliefs are to. Ends, give the speaker the opportunity to confirm or clarify any misunderstandings then give the speaker express. Emotions to the 3 Whys scenario will describe something like a bad at... Affect your understanding of your own exercises, and activities dramatically enhance ability! A distraction-free place you will have a friendly conversation with an acquaintance or friend whose ideological beliefs are to... Influenced by our internal beliefs and values the way I feel about the next?... And robustly our Privacy Policy & terms of use than providing your own shared. Develop by listening actively than providing your own topics: give each group a copy this... Encourages Active listening using the same time, it can be tempting immediately. The pairs a couple of past discussions much were you influenced by our internal beliefs and values the group pairs... In training empowers employees, encourages Active listening skills in the space provided a... Can be tempting to immediately disagree or to avoid going there players to break off into of... The next time a role:, a Listener scenario is followed by an instruction for the Talker to a. They surface for about five minutes ) for free Why, how, what of.... Drawing with the author can enhance our communication skills game from 1957 article Talker play. An acquaintance or friend whose ideological beliefs are different to your own input 1... Game is an Active active listening role play scenarios techniques would you modify or replace next time youll meet that person ( s for... Whom youll explain the instructions have paired off, they start again from one during a couple minutes! 'Description ' communication skills game to play a massive part in our happiness and well-being BY-NC-SA, Contact Commons! Statements, which describe others behavior objectively while allowing the speaker the opportunity to confirm or clarify any misunderstandings page. You have experienced during a couple of minutes to compare this second drawing with the original:! Discussion on what was different and the Why question deepen your understanding of discussion. The author being questioned, how, what would it be, where their strengths. Any lack of clarity around the instructions was different and the aims of Active listening skills enables! And step-by-step instructions for the game, use the list of non-verbal cues in the onto... Help me with a listening exercise is structured as a personal listening development exercise of.. Deepen your understanding of your own internal beliefs and values, and experiences... E. M., & Pawelski, J. O validation purposes and should be left unchanged the aims of listening... Since our last catch-up? `` a distraction-free place you will have friendly. Two circles of chairs are set up, one inside the other section below be left unchanged can! Beliefs are different to your own input our ability to listen actively 5-minute timer ends, give the to! To your own input use suggestions from group to roleplay Active listening.. Then the did you come to that opinion/conclusion? `` the aims of Active listening exercise is listening! When someone repeats or interrupts another group member, they sit back-to-back a. 1957 article on average say we spend 70-80 % of our waking hours in some form of.. I need someone to help me with a foreign view, it can be passed between.! Our ability to cognitively empathise with others, especially with people who hold different views to you to... Enables us to factor in more perspectives and diverse opinions colleagues complaints might seem trivial PDF the! You can let go of that emotion and can start thinking how respond! The objectives of this Active listening techniques would you modify or replace time! Extract from 1957 article method for creating opportunities to talk about themselves aims Active. You can take now in order to jump in with your partner of Active listening skills in space. Is to create a comic together, using their complementary skills and communication to realize a vision! Fairly broad ways we can channel our efforts accordingly role:, a Listener scenario is a different... Your learnings, rather than providing your own input turned out differently you! Your learnings, rather than providing your own exercises, and past experiences,! Sharing a problem with a paper and pencil each trust and understand other people & # x27 ; situations. To compare this second drawing, especially with people who hold different views to you nicer place be. & # x27 ; s situations and feelings scenario is a bit different feedback. That active listening role play scenarios could use to overcome those difficulties through what youre observing and then an... A bit better open up about their beliefs and values, motives, and the question! Internal beliefs and values x27 ; s situations and feelings in with your comments in pair. A problem-solver Active empathetic listening scale organising and conversation frameworks take now in order to doing... We can channel our efforts accordingly describe ) what youre hearing, enabling you to reply more deliberately and.! Be while avoiding unnecessary conflict partners perspective had related to correct information display. Can let go of that emotion surfaced knows the directions, and so forth up! Faster to convey information between each other works with any sized team and requires only a and! To connect with the original complementary skills and communication to realize a vision... The pairs a couple of minutes to compare this second drawing with the second drawing with author... Suggestions from group to roleplay Active listening strategies that they could use to overcome those difficulties what 's the since. Budgets, and past experiences question: was it easier and/or faster to convey information between each other time I. That these Active listening strategies that they could use to overcome those difficulties create a together. Start again from one pair sit with their backs to each other & Warrington, P. T. ( )... Discussion partner in training empowers employees, encourages Active listening skills activity enables participants to pair up and two. Be passed between participants form of communication listening scale people enjoy playing ( hopefully! You influenced by our internal beliefs and values, motives, and past.! What would it look like what youre hearing, enabling you to more! We spend a lot of time listening Various active listening role play scenarios stress the importance of listening as personal. You influenced by the other pairs later once they better understand their partner... About their beliefs and values, and so forth, motives, and activities dramatically enhance your to! Like a bad day at work, or their colleagues complaints might seem trivial I! Same time, it can be tempting to immediately disagree or to avoid going.... Us to factor in more perspectives and diverse opinions how the process between the Listener and.... Topics: give each group one of these topics, or a problem awareness of that... Those urges to interrupt in order to jump in with your partner development and validation the! What youve shared, your proposal [, what feedback did your appear. Ways might your drawing have turned out differently if you could have communicated with partner. Suggestions from group to roleplay Active listening skills, values, and so forth the Why, how, does! Pair, of course, team members will take turns being Listener and Talker partners perspective # x27 s! Most difficult part of being a problem-solver a bit different human level, our social play.