Listen with intent

Being a good listener is about two things: 

1. Demonstrating that you’ve heard exactly what was said by the other person.
2. Encouraging them to continue. This breaks down into what’s called “backchanneling” — offering short, enthusiastic responses as the other person talks (i.e. “yeah” “mm-hmm” “totally” “I can see that”), and asking follow up questions that reference the information you were just given.