Active Listening is Key for Effective Video Calls
Video conferencing fatigue is real.
As the U.S. approaches the one-year mark of COVID-19, a majority of people are still working remotely. With this remote work comes many virtual meetings and conferences, and the deluge of virtual interactions can make it harder and harder to stay active, focused and productive in meetings. One of the most important aspects of effective video calling is active listening.
If practiced correctly, the technique can help make video calls more productive and enjoyable. Active listening means you focus all of your attention to what the speaker is saying/doing and treat listening as an activity instead of a passive state.
Think about your last few video calls and ask yourself:
- Did you ever pretend like you’re paying attention when you’re not?
- Did you ever get distracted by outside noises or stimuli when listening to someone talk?
- Did you find yourself planning what you will do after the call or what you might have for dinner?
- Did you check your emails while someone was talking?
- Did you interrupt someone while they were talking?
If you answered “yes” to one or all of these questions, it might help to hone your active listening skills.
Practice these tips curated by LinkedIn to improve the quality of your next video call:
- Remember the goal of your call, you want to:
- Understand the presenter
- Learn something new or refresh your memory on another topic
- Provide guidance or help to someone
- Be sure to provide the speaker your full attention:
- Take an interest in what is being said
- Give the speaker all of your attention and physically lean in towards the call to engage yourself
- When speaking, look into the camera and not at the rest of the people, or yourself, on the call
- Pay attention to body language – it can help you get engaged and understand the meaning of the call
- Wait until the speaker is finished to provide feedback or ask any questions
- Be sure and keep a face of interest during the call:
- Being on video can actually change your body language and that could be interpreted as boredom
- Take a minute and video yourself to see how your neutral face could be interpreted as bored. Try a bit of a smile or lift your eyebrows and note the difference. Which one would you prefer to see if you were the presenter?
- Finally, acknowledge the presenter silently to avoid interrupting the speaker
- Noe your head throughout the call
- Provide a simple thumbs up
While active listening does require some effort, it is more than worth it to ensure effective and efficient virtual interactions.