Chapter 3: 2 Easy Coaching Tips for Active Listening

Understanding the difference between active listening vs passive listening is one of the first steps that every new coach must master.

However, even the most experienced coaches need to remain vigilant in providing clients with plenty of feedback showing clients that they are listening and understanding what they have to say. Here are a pair of active listening tips for coaches that will help you truly hear your clients while providing them with the positive feedback that they need to continue moving forward.

As you are no doubt aware, there is much more to communication than the words we choose to use when we are speaking with one another. Providing clients with nonverbal clues that we are paying close attention to the answers they provide to our probing quesitons serves to assure them that we are fully engaged in the coaching process. Good posture, solid eye contact and active hand gestures also serve to keep your own mind in the present moment throughout your coaching sessions.

No matter how closely you are listening to your clients, there is no guarantee that you have accurately understood what they are trying to say unless you confirm what you believe you have heard with them. When a client provides you with an important or poignant answer to one of your probing questions, take a moment to repeat back their answer in your own words in order to ensure that you have comprehended them properly. This provides them with assurance that you are closely listening to what they have to say and eliminates the possibility of any misunderstanding due to your own assumptions or self-projections.