The Power of Active Listening in Family Relationships

When I interviewed children for an answer to that question, all agreed on a simple, basic truth: listening is paying attention and not interrupting. Distinguished from the passive activity of hearing, listening involves focusing intent attention on the speaker, and concentrating on correctly interpreting what is being said.

Harvey Mackay, author of Swim with the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive, in his article "Listening is the Hardest of the 'Easy' Tasks," defines good listening as, "Paying attention to context as well as content. A listener who can paraphrase what you've said without changing your meaning is a great listener. A listener who merely can repeat your words is a parrot."