You’re making lunch in your apartment one afternoon, when your best friend calls you. You answer only to hear him sobbing uncontrollably. He tells you that he and his girlfriend just broke up because she cheated on him. He says he needs someone to talk to.

Providing comfort to a conversational partner is another common purpose for listening. To provide support through listening, you must suspend judgment—taking in what someone else says without evaluating it, and openly expressing empathy. Examples include comforting a relative after the death of a spouse or responding with a kind e-mail to a coworker who sends you a message complaining that her boss just criticized her at a team meeting.