Many people think they are good listeners but in fact research shows that people remember between 25 per cent and 50 per cent of what we hear. That means that when you talk to customers for 10 minutes, they pay attention to less than half of the conversation¹.

Listening is a vital part of effective communication as it helps you gather information and gives you clues about how a patient is feeling. To maximise the amount of information you should actively listen which means that you are not only listening to the words that are being said but the whole message, i.e. body language, tone of voice and the words. There are five key techniques involved:

Pay attention - give a patient 100 per cent attention, don't get distracted by things going on around you or thinking about what you are going to say next.

Show that you are listening - nod your head, smile and use verbal cues such as yes and uh huh.

Provide feedback - repeat back what the patient has said, ask questions to clarify and summarise what you have heard. Defer judgement - allow the patient to finish what they are saying and don't interrupt and pause before you respond.

Respond appropriately - ensure that your response is open and honest and that you respect their opinion irrespective of how sensible you consider their decision to be.

All of these elements of effective communication are important to gain the most out of conversations with patients but they take practice and it is easy to slip back into bad habits. It is therefore important to remind yourself to do them before you start a conversation, and consciously try to adopt them during the conversation.

^{1 www.mindtools.com/community/pages/article/ ActiveListening}