During important conversations, in order to absorb what others are saying, you must be an active listener first.

You need to pay close attention to the speaker’s ideas, concerns, arguments or frustrations before thinking of your response.

Active listening allows you to take the speaker’s perspective, not yours into account. When you hear the other person’s perspective, only then can you take the information, analyze it and respond in a way that lets the speaker know you have a clear understanding of what was said and an effective conversation can continue to take place.