Define active listening in your own words.

Define active listening in your own words.

• A. Listening to respond quickly with your own viewpoint.
• B. Listening with partial attention and forming a reply.
• C. Listening to gather facts for a response only.
• D. Listening with full attention, understanding, and then reflecting or paraphrasing to confirm understanding.

Answer: (D)

Active listening means giving the speaker your full attention, focusing on both what they are saying and how they feel, and then confirming you understood by restating or paraphrasing what you heard. This shows you’ve processed the message, clarifies meaning, and invites any needed corrections. Simply listening to respond quickly, listening with partial attention, or gathering facts for a reply doesn’t engage you enough to ensure true understanding, so they don’t capture what active listening is about.

Active listening means giving the speaker your full attention, focusing on both what they are saying and how they feel, and then confirming you understood by restating or paraphrasing what you heard. This shows you’ve processed the message, clarifies meaning, and invites any needed corrections. Simply listening to respond quickly, listening with partial attention, or gathering facts for a reply doesn’t engage you enough to ensure true understanding, so they don’t capture what active listening is about.