Although it sounds like a cliché, improving your active listening skills will improve your life. If you’re a skilled listener, people will perceive you as a more competent communicator overall, and you’ll benefit both professionally and personally as a result.

We all go through our lives “listening” to others. Listening is our most common communicative activity. But when we actively listen, we transcend simply hearing and processing what people say and instead make the people in our lives feel valued and respected. How can you listen in such powerful, positive ways? At the heart of active listening are three skills: managing your nonverbal and verbal feedback, adapting your listening to speakers and situations, and recognizing the value of silence.