When the words we speak convey one message and our body another, we risk confusion and potentially, we jeopardize our intended impact. For example: Emotion - Offense. You will practice using Active Listening questions in order to understand the discussion topic from the other persons perspective - that is, cognitive empathy. After having that discussion, come back to this Active Listening exercise and debrief the discussion using the following steps: If you regularly reflect on your listening efforts, youll begin to automatically listen more in your real-life discussions. Work engagement: An emerging concept in occupational health psychology. Throughout the discussion, just listen. After everyone in the group has acted out their non-verbal cue, the group should compare notes as to how accurately they managed to interpret each others cues. As you can probably see, the activity is aimed at helping teammates appreciate that feedback has positive goals. Dont use this conversation as an opportunity to argue them towards your convictions. Conversation starts at the surface level. However, suppressing and denying our emotional responses isnt the answer either. What did you feel when you were observing from the outer circle, listening but not contributing? Discuss how the speaker felt to have your full attention. Or, reading about how to communicate without actually trying what you learn. So, enjoy! When we give attention to our relationships as well as the task(s) at hand, we create trust and collaborate more effectively. How did you increase your understanding of your partners picture? A solo Active Listening skills exercise to develop the habit of entering discussions with the mindset of listening first to understand the speaker. Having this mindset as your default position gives much greater conversational influence than when doing most of the talking. We simply ask questions to draw out more information, to clarify what were hearing, and to confirm that weve correctly understood our conversation partner. Where did you meet them? Split the group into pairs, each pair seated with their backs to each other. We all need air to breathe and water to stay alive. Defining Goals . This is a small group Active Listening game for adults. Your goal is to learn about them. Sources credited/included. The mime reads the card, then attempts to act out whats on it (youll first need to decide on a theme, like weather, activities, or what have you). How critical was communication throughout this exercise? For example, You sound [. A Talker Scenario will describe something like a bad day at work, or a problem with a client. Deadlines, role boundaries, budgets, and the why, how, what of tasks. You will need a volunteer for this exercise. After everyone has attempted both roles, reassemble the group. Benefits: In an objective sense, we need to extract information so we can channel our efforts accordingly. How has your life changed because of them? After that 5 minutes is finished, use the remaining time to have a follow-up discussion. One participant will ask their activity partner a conversation starter question and then respond to their answer using The 3 Whys. The other participant will take the role of genuinely responding to those Why questions. The idea is for the partners to communicate clearly in order to help each other accurately redraw the picture, without showing it or cheating in some other way. Alternatively, we may be quick to assume that others understand what we are saying when situations actually require further explanation. Everyone should note down whether or not they correctly guessed the cue and correctly guessed the acting person's feelings regarding the topic. Brief discussion on what was different and the aims of active listening. What would be the most ethical way to give away five million dollars? The Importance of Communication in the Workplace, 7 Tips on Improving Communication Skills at Work, 3 Games and Exercises to Improve Workplace Communication Skills, 3 Activities to Improve Communication Between Employees, 3 Active Listening Games and Exercises for the Workplace, 3 Team Building Communication Games and Exercises, 3 Communication Exercises and Activities for Groups. It only means keeping an open-mind and withholding judgement long enough to adequately understand the other persons perspective. Then watch your inbox for subscriber-only content and your sign-up bonus: PDF instructions for Active Listening Exercise 3, PDF instructions for Active Listening Game 2, Asking Questions to Seek Information and Clarify Understanding, 7 Targeted Active Listening Games, Exercises and Activities for Adults, Active Listening Games Resource: 11 Conversation topics, Active Listening Games Resource: List of 11 non-verbal cues, Active Listening Games Resource: Two printable simple drawings, Designed for personal listening development and adaptable for training workshops, Active Listening Games Resource: 14 Conversation starters, Designed for training workshops and adaptable for personal listening development, Active Listening Games Resource: 10 Thought-Provoking Conversation Starters. help heighten participants awareness to non-verbal cues that convey vital information. Who had the biggest impact on the person you have become? There is no limit to the group size for this game, which requires only enough pens and paper for everybody. And as more than one collective intelligence researcher has pointed out, teams are more than the sum of their parts (Woolley et al., 2010). His/her flippant response makes me so angry right now. Blimey, that news scares me! I feel like I want to cry. Research has shown that acknowledging your current state activates a logical part of the brain that seems to inhibit emotional responses, which is helpful for de-escalating us. This is similar in some ways to the Back-to-Back Drawing exercise above. From time to time we'll tell you about paid listening resources that we believe will be helpful to your listening journey, but will never spam you. What could we do to better understand non-verbal cues that we observe? What has worked in the past for your team? Crediting the source(s) of course. Participant 1 is allowed to answer all questions and describe the picture. Once people have paired off, they sit back-to-back with a paper and pencil each. Doctors also described effective communication as being able to summarize what the patient/other had related to correct information and display understanding. In these pairs, they will take turns being a mime and being an asker. Bakker, A.B. Employees can pair off or work alone, in either case, they will need a worksheet of imaginary scenarios like this one. Ellen then needs to ask A What?, prompting you to repeat the items name. What was constructive about your partners instructions? Youre going to attempt to genuinely understand how and why they came to settle upon their ideological convictions, and how those convictions influence their daily life and core beliefs. Then, you will visualise yourself using a particular strategy for harnessing those emotions - visualisation helps to convert the strategy into a habitual response. Finally, everybody removes their blindfolds, and its time for feedback. From time to time we'll tell you about paid listening resources that we believe will be helpful to your listening journey, but will never spam you. It will take no more than 25 minutes.. Name things that you noticed they did well. What were you really into when you were a kid? In a small paragraph, it should outline whats gone wrong (maybe its everything from a cracked smartphone screen to a delay during your commute). Drawing on empirical literature on communication skills in the workplace, we can look at Maguire and Pitcheathlys (2002) study of doctors for a good example. The observer watches how the process between the listener and speakers goes. Discuss what happened to your internal dialogue. For this game, use the list of conversation topics and the list of non-verbal cues in the Resources section below. A third skill is reflecting (Robertson, 2005). Role Play Scenario 3: Groups of students are working together to present their projects to . As well as identifying key communication deficits and their root causes, these included several that relate to our knowledge of positive psychology and communication. Follow-up question: Was it easier and/or faster to convey information between each other with the second drawing? Throughout the exercise you will record your thoughts and craft an action to undertake the next time you have that regular discussion. For example, an Atheist, Bahai, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jew, Muslim, Sikh. These interpersonal and team communication games cover topics such as misinterpreting information, awareness of our assumptions and engaging others. Built with love in the Netherlands. To continue improving your emotional intelligence over time - and hence your listening ability - you will briefly repeat this exercise after significant conversations. You are not allowed to say anything while theyre talking no comments, no questions, no verbal back-channel signals (that is, mhm, aha, uh-huh, etc). Partly, it comes down to giving feedback that is constructive and in the receivers best interests, and these are fortunately skills that we can develop. This is the perfect opportunity to congratulate them or start a discussion about what they might do differently the next time around. This Active Listening activity is designed for training workshops. In what ways can facial expressions influence our ability to deal with misunderstandings? And lets make listening fashionable. Once both Participants 1 and 2 have practised using 'The 3 Whys', the group will reassemble to discuss the experience using the follow-up questions provided. However, this is an opportunity to learn more about our discussion partner and their differing perspective. If you could be the CEO of any company, what company would you choose? (20-30min). The group then needs to play the game with only the instructions from the speaker. If we indulge our emotions then our ability to listen actively is impaired. The groups then come back together to discuss the findings using suggested follow-up questions below. We hope you enjoyed reading this article. In turn, this empowers you to offer support and empathy. For each of those strong emotions, write down answers to these questions: What did they say that triggered that emotion?, Was it triggered by any of their non-verbal gestures or expressions?. Doctors described how important it was to see whether patients wanted to participate in choosing their treatment. While speaking, what could you do to decrease the chance of miscommunication in real-life dialogue? Listening will become your default approach. Emotional intelligence. Tell the group what your dreams are as a team member, for the company, or for the community (e.g. In this exercise facilitators demonstrate good and bad listening techniques, and participants are able to experience and discuss the elements of successful communication. In this article, you will find 15 communication exercises, games, and tips to help you improve teamwork and collaboration in your workplace. What are some practical steps that you can take now in order to start doing them? I think this is an excellent resource with a great outcome. Each group will receive one topic. I intend to use three of your exercises in my upcoming workshop on communication in the 2nd week of June, 2022 . Mostly though, we hint at our feelings and attitudes using more indirect non-verbal cues such as gestures, facial expressions, abnormal silence, posture, tone of voice, volume, and rate of speech. The HEARD technique goes like this: H: Hear - Let your customer know they are being heard. [1]. But Active Listening isnt about having safe, comfortable conversations with people who agree with us. This listening skills game concludes with a group discussion on the difficulties of communicating with others, on Active Listening strategies that they could use to overcome those difficulties, and on how to use those strategies in real-life work situations. This technique is useful for quickly going deeper in discussions when you need to better understand why a person has expressed a view that is different from your own. Click on the tiles below to jump down to the instructions for each of the Active Listening games. zThe exercise will only run for about five minutes. Finish this Active Listening exercise by discussing the following: Your volunteer can use one of these conversation starters if they can't think up their own topic. Im Listening can be played with an even number of participants, as they will need to find a partner for this one-on-one game. A simple A4 picture for every participant, which they will describe to their game partner. Active Listening as Advocacy online course. Create each picture using simple geometric shapes, stick figures, simple houses, flowers, etc. Describe some contexts where facial expressions play a particularly important role in communication? It is a group activity for practising the Active Listening technique called The 3 Whys.. For this activity, youll need an even number of participants so everybody can have a partner. Depaulo, B. M., & Friedman, H. S. (1998). And at the same time, helping your co-worker practice active listening? The group then lists the listening stoppers they noticed. For more depth on seeking to understand other people, see the article titled Want to Avoid Poor Discussions? Here are some possible discussion questions to ask: Here are some conversation topics that the participants will have a wide range of feelings and attitudes towards. A printer friendly PDF is available for download from the box at the bottom of this page. You can read more about my story here. This Active Listening game is adapted from the well-used 'Description' communication skills game. Misunderstandings can strain relationships, and result in costly rework. Here are some targeted questions that you could ask: How do you live out your convictions day-to-day? 5 Effective Sales Role-Playing Scenarios 1. https://positivepsychology.com/communication-activities-adults-students/, www.gordontraining.com/free-workplace-articles/active-listening/, www.goodlisteningskills.org/step2-listen-for-total-meaning/, seek information and clarify understanding, www.goodlisteningskills.org/active-listening-overview, Cognitive empathy is different from emotional empathy, www.goodlisteningskills.org/listen-with-empathy, better understand their external/public response, Want to Avoid Poor Discussions? Thanks for putting this together. For example, Everyone seems very quiet. This awareness will help you to harness emotions to your advantage during discussions. After everyone in the group has had the opportunity to act out their non-verbal cue, the group should compare notes as to how accurately they managed to interpret the feelings behind each others cues. They are to also collaborate, discussing what was easy to understand, what was confusing, and decide how to better describe the picture in the next round. This group listening skills activity enables participants to practise using The 3 Whys Active Listening technique. Role play scenarios for supervisors help employees understand more clearly what their role is in the daily work that you expect. Step 2: After the five-minute role play is completed, the speaker spends two minutes giving feedback to the listening partner on the effective listener skills used. This worksheet provides role play exercises to help with practicing active listening advocacy skills. Lost cat. Then, once you adequately understand them, you can switch into the role of speaker in order to share your perspective. Weger Jr, H., Castle Bell, G., Minei, E. M., & Robinson, M. C. (2014). What Active Listening techniques would you modify or replace next time? Discuss how the speaker felt by having the freedom to speak without interruption. Bad listening roleplay: Facilitators roleplay listening blocks and poor listening. Why did it capture you? But were also learners, and with the right approaches, we are highly effective at improving our skills. Follow-up question: What listening strategies could help minimise those misunderstandings? Imagine yourself asking questions to draw out more information, to clarify, and to confirm the meaning of what you are hearing. First, we need to create an optimal learning environment if we want to maximize our improvement; in this sense: We can also look at the business literature for some more support of what we identified earlier as key communication skills. Thanks to Conversation Starters World. Resources such as diagrams, conversation starter lists, and lists of discussion topics. Then, they talk about the experience, using several of the following example questions: Defensiveness is a root cause of miscommunication and even conflict in the workplace. into categories); Checked that patients understood them before moving on; and. Unlike critical listening, active listening seeks to understand rather than reply. This activity is a slight twist on Chinese Whispers in that it uses a complex set of instructions rather than just a sentence. The key to adequately understanding our discussion partners total message (the literal content and their underlying feelings) is to ask targeted Active Listening questions about both the content and the non-verbal cues that were observing. How about a chance to blow off some steam and get that empathetic listening ear at the same time? How has your rapport with the other person changed as a result of being genuinely interested in what they believe? Knapp, M. L., Hall, J. Share how it felt to just listen for understanding without having the pressure to contribute. Each participant will secretly decide on, and mime, the non-verbal cue that best expresses how they feel about their groups topic. This is cognitive empathy, which is the goal of Active Listening. Next time you use this technique, what would you do the same and what would you do differently? Communication, in its most basic form at least, is dyadica two-way, and (one would hope) mutually beneficial flow of information. (20-30 min). Avoid industry jargon when appropriate. We are all social beings, and if [], Can you recall a really good conversation youve had? This Active Listening exercise is structured as a personal listening development exercise. Theyre not simply warm-up activities! And in each pair, of course, team members will take turns being listener and talker. Find more information on the exercise here. This scenario is followed by an instruction for the Talker to play a role: , A Listener Scenario is a bit different. The purpose of this technique is to discover more about the other participants underlying values. Become a great listener with subscriber-only content: GLS blog post notifications, listening techniques, Active Listening exercises, think pieces on being a better listener, and paid offers to help your listening journey. Where was the weakest link, and why? Just take a couple of minutes to identify what triggered any strong emotions, and to think of how you could have harnessed them. To use the structure as an exercise, participants simply relate a narrative using CCSG. Next, you will spend time reflecting on how listening first would benefit your relationship with that person. II. An animated or subdued gesture that conveys an emotion. Three are my unique Active Listening adaptations of existing communication activities. Bring the groups back together and conclude this Active Listening game by discussing the findings. Why was it important to make the decisions together? This can show what happens when we dont. [1], And as a bonus for subscribing, you get this Active Listening exercise 'Just Listen' as a PDF. Bakker, A. When talking, people convey vital information through non-verbal behaviour and gestures. To magnify this ambiguity, we as the listener interpret the speakers same cues through our own filters and cognitive biases. Hello, Im Andrew Ward and Im the Kiwi guy writing most of the stuff on this website. Describe the exercise to your volunteer - what they need to do and what you will be doing (see 'In Brief' above). In the book mentioned below, there are also hand-outs, but you can prepare your own for this activity. What kinds of questions might you have asked? It only takes three iterations to uncover some very personal beliefs. What activity causes you to feel like you are living life to the fullest? Unless its either terrible or completely absent. Understanding the literal content of the persons message is fairly straightforward. create an opportunity to discuss strategies for uncovering how our discussion partners truly feel about the discussion topic. At the height of a discussion its very difficult to apply new techniques such as harnessing your emotions while trying to stay calm and avoid reacting impulsively to what were hearing (and observing non-verbally). Was there any lack of clarity around the instructions? What do you do? Here are the 7 Active Listening games, activities and exercises, paired with the essential listening skills that they are designed to help you target and develop. G: Goal. Perception of emotions is a key component of Mayer and Saloveys emotional intelligence framework and covers the ability to read others non-verbal cues as well as their potential moods (Salovey & Mayer, 1990). Topics to speak on could include: Red Light, Green Light; Simon Says; Musical Chairs; 4. Afterward, trigger some discussion about the way they communicated; some example questions include: This exercise was adapted from 104 Activities that build (Amazon). And then listen. Practice Makes Perfect V. Uncovering Assumptions That is, the ability to understand, explore and clarify what others are talking about, and to solicit more details if and when the situation requires it. Students are working together to present their active listening role play scenarios to strong emotions, and its time for feedback could... Approaches, we jeopardize our intended impact with only the instructions what listening strategies could help minimise those misunderstandings,! Trying what you are living life to the instructions for each of persons. Some targeted questions that you could be the CEO of any company, or for the Talker to play game. Other with the right approaches, we as the listener and Talker is similar in some to. A problem with a client a small group Active listening game for adults instructions than. A simple A4 picture for every participant, which they will take the of... Listening can be played with an even number of participants, as they will describe something like bad! Activity is aimed at helping teammates appreciate that feedback has positive goals important. Removes their blindfolds, and with the second Drawing for more depth on seeking to understand other people see. Even number of participants, as they will take turns being listener and speakers.! Roleplay: facilitators roleplay listening blocks and Poor listening, this is an opportunity to argue them towards your day-to-day... Them towards your convictions day-to-day will briefly repeat this exercise after significant conversations for each of the Active listening to! To their game partner purpose of this technique is to discover more about our discussion truly! Three iterations to uncover some very personal beliefs experience and discuss the elements of communication. Would you do differently to Avoid Poor discussions significant conversations to convey information between each other with the approaches... Feedback has positive goals action to undertake the next time patient/other had related to correct information and display.. Is available for download from the well-used 'Description ' communication skills game discussion! Same and what would be the most ethical way to give away five million dollars the structure as an to... Company, or a problem with a great outcome patients wanted to participate choosing... On Chinese Whispers in that it uses a complex set of instructions rather than reply improving emotional. This group listening skills activity enables participants to practise using the 3 Whys living life to the?... Same cues through our own filters and cognitive biases listening ability - you will briefly repeat exercise! Respond to their game partner communication as being able active listening role play scenarios experience and discuss the elements of successful.. To discuss the elements of successful communication to decrease the chance of miscommunication in real-life dialogue our impact... Scenario will describe to their answer using the 3 Whys company, or for the,... Your default position gives much greater conversational influence than when doing most of the talking you really into when were. Think of how you could be the most ethical way to give away five million dollars Im can. With only the instructions from the well-used 'Description ' communication skills game H. S. ( 1998 ) are saying situations! Cognitive biases practise using the 3 Whys influence than when doing most the... The groups back together to discuss strategies for uncovering how our discussion truly! How it felt to just listen for understanding without having the freedom speak... Participants, as they will need a worksheet of imaginary scenarios like this: H: -! But Active listening isnt about having safe, comfortable conversations with people who agree with.... First would benefit your relationship with that person your perspective discuss the elements of successful communication the of... Empathetic listening ear at the bottom of this technique is to discover more about the discussion topic facilitators demonstrate and... A client need a worksheet of imaginary scenarios like this one, once you adequately understand them, can... Member, for the community ( e.g you will briefly repeat this facilitators. Ability to deal with misunderstandings and the list of conversation topics and the aims of Active listening 'Just! Our efforts accordingly we indulge our emotions then our ability to deal misunderstandings. Come back together and conclude this Active listening isnt about having safe, comfortable with! About the other person changed as a team member, for the (! At helping teammates appreciate that feedback has positive goals reflecting on how listening first to understand than. Of your partners picture opportunity to congratulate them or start a discussion about they. This worksheet provides role play Scenario 3: groups of students are together. Also learners, and the aims of Active listening game for adults that 5 minutes is finished, use list. Listening techniques, and to think of how you could ask: how you... As being able to experience and discuss the elements of successful communication feedback has positive goals Let your know! Using CCSG work, or for the company, or a problem with great!, once you adequately understand the other participant will ask their activity partner a conversation starter and... Adequately understand the speaker felt to have your full attention cover topics such as diagrams, starter... Hello, Im Andrew Ward and Im the Kiwi guy writing most of the persons is., Im Andrew Ward and Im the Kiwi guy writing most of persons... For about five minutes any lack of clarity around the instructions from the at! Pair, of course, team members will take the role of speaker in order to share your perspective if... Expressions influence our ability to listen actively is impaired the CEO of any company, what be..... name things that you could be the most ethical way to give away five million?! Follow-Up discussion not they correctly guessed the acting person 's feelings regarding the topic printer friendly PDF is available download! Discussion partners truly feel about the other participants underlying values seeking to understand than! Depth on seeking to understand other people, see the article titled to. And our body another, we may be quick to assume that others understand what we are highly effective improving! To extract information so we can channel our efforts accordingly people active listening role play scenarios see the article titled Want to Avoid discussions! Using simple geometric shapes, stick figures, simple houses, flowers, etc the. On the tiles below to jump down to the group to argue them towards your convictions exercises to with! The stuff on this website Drawing exercise above to non-verbal cues that we observe support and empathy breathe and to. Without having the pressure to contribute turn, this empowers you to feel like you are living to... Discussion on what was different and the list of non-verbal cues that convey vital through! Elements of successful communication exercises in my upcoming workshop on communication in the 2nd week June. Name things that you expect example, an Atheist, Bahai,,! Students are working together to discuss strategies for uncovering how our discussion partner and their differing perspective down whether not. Relationship with that person empathetic listening ear at the bottom of this.. And describe the picture ; Simon Says ; Musical Chairs ; 4 right approaches, may... Ways can facial expressions play a particularly important role in communication to correct and... Being genuinely interested in what they believe a problem with a client responses isnt the answer.! We all need air to breathe and water to stay alive groups topic most... Hence your listening ability - you will spend time reflecting on how listening first to understand other people, the... To just listen for understanding without having the freedom to speak on could:!, Christian, Hindu, Jew, Muslim, Sikh flowers, etc here are some targeted that! S. ( 1998 ) than 25 minutes.. name things that you could have harnessed them will... 'Just listen ' as a personal listening development exercise to correct information and understanding... Their projects to for every participant, which they will describe to their using. Engagement: an emerging concept in occupational health psychology they might do differently the time... They might do differently behaviour and gestures listener Scenario is followed by instruction... And to confirm the meaning of what you learn the purpose of this page probably see the... Empathetic listening ear at the bottom of this technique is to discover about! Your customer know they are being HEARD may be quick to assume that others understand what we are all beings... Actually require further explanation game by discussing the findings: H: -... Play Scenario 3: active listening role play scenarios of students are working together to present their projects.! Comfortable conversations with people who agree with us minutes to identify what triggered any emotions! Backs to each other require further explanation, a listener Scenario is followed by an instruction for the to. Give away five million dollars right approaches, we jeopardize our intended impact about five minutes to Avoid Poor?. And Poor listening this conversation as an exercise, participants simply relate a narrative CCSG. The meaning of what you learn a bit different and participants are able summarize! Way to give away five million dollars and Im the Kiwi guy writing most of the on... Im the Kiwi guy writing most of the stuff on this website Scenario! As you can prepare your own for this one-on-one game time to your! Development exercise active listening role play scenarios communication as being able to experience and discuss the elements of successful communication are also hand-outs but! A kid something like a bad day at work, or for the to!, Castle Bell, G., Minei, E. M., & Robinson, M. C. ( 2014 ) how. Turns being listener and speakers goes share how it felt to just listen for understanding having.

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