Active Listening: Better Communication & Soft Skills at Work

Name: Active Listening: Better Communication & Soft Skills at Work
Rating: 4.8 (49 reviews)

Learn feedback, conflict resolution, empathy, and collaboration skills for teams, leadership, and professional growth.

Created byKomeil Mehranfar

Last updated 5/2026

English

English [Auto],

What you'll learn

Apply a structured active listening process (preparation, receiving, understanding, reflecting, and responding) in real conversations
Demonstrate how to reflect and paraphrase messages to confirm understanding and reduce miscommunication
Identify common listening barriers (e.g., assumptions, distractions, emotional reactions) and actively manage them during conversations
Use clarifying questions and feedback techniques to uncover deeper meaning and improve communication outcomes
Analyze conversations to detect gaps in understanding and adjust listening strategies accordingly
Practice empathetic listening to build trust, psychological safety, and stronger professional relationships
Apply simple thinking tools (like CTFAR and the Ladder of Inference) to become more aware of your reactions and improve how you listen
Integrate active listening as a daily habit—not just a skill, but a natural way of communicating

Course content

5 sections • 23 lectures • 1h 11m total length

Welcome3:09
Discover how active listening builds authentic relationships, trust, and leadership by practicing five steps and mindset shifts, then integrate it into life at work for stronger communication and soft skills.
What active listening really means?2:25
Discover what active listening really means by focusing intentionally, understanding the full message, and responding to confirm clarity with presence, empathy, and curiosity.
The Impact of being heard4:57
Benefits of active listening3:48
Foundations of Active Listening
Reflect on a Time You Felt Truly Heard

Prepare to listen before the conversation starts4:43
Prepare to listen before the conversation starts by setting your intention to understand, reducing distractions, and managing your body language; reflect back what you heard and respond thoughtfully.
Staying present while receiving the message4:42
Understanding the meaning behind the message4:44
Learn to identify facts, emotions, and intentions behind a message, and use clarifying and open questions to deepen understanding and avoid premature advice in active listening.
Reflecting what you heard3:55
Practice reflecting what you heard to make your active listening visible, using paraphrasing, reflecting emotions, and summarizing longer messages to help speakers feel heard.
Respond Thoughtfully6:21
Learn how to respond thoughtfully in active listening by validating the speaker's experience, focusing on what matters, recognizing intention, and asking for permission before offering advice.
The Active Listening Process
Practice the 5-Step Active Listening Process
Active Listening in a Project Check-In with a Frustrated Colleague
Receiving Feedback with Active Listening

Understanding matters more than being right2:45
Prioritize understanding over being right to strengthen active listening, pausing the urge to win arguments. Create a safe space for deeper conversations by seeking what others feel and need.
Every person’s experience makes sense to them1:22
My job is not to fix1:29
Learn how active listening centers on listening before fixing, identify the conversation's intention, and know when to offer help as needed for emotional support or problem solving.
The speaker is the expert of their own experience1:53
Learn to honor each person's experience through active listening, ask what makes their feelings hard, and keep the focus on the other person rather than their viewpoint.
Presence Is more valuable than intelligence0:53
Silence is not a problem1:08
Listening is an act of respect1:43
Active listening acts as respect, signaling that others' experiences matter by giving time and presence, listening without interruption, and building trust by valuing their experience.
Mindsets That Support Active Listening
Practice the Mindsets of Active Listening

Solving workplace challenges with active listening3:34
Discover how active listening solves workplace challenges by clarifying goals, boosting morale, unlocking innovation, improving feedback, and defusing conflicts to build trust and collaboration at work.
Transforming relationships with active listening1:53
Transform relationships by practicing active listening to end repetitive arguments, deepen connection with partners and family, and show love, care, and respect in daily life.
How Active Listening Solves Real-Life Problems
Apply Active Listening to a Real-Life Challenge
Handling a Customer Complaint with Empathy

Why we can’t fake active listening?2:39
How to change our behaviour authentically?4:58
Explore authentic methods to change behavior by surfacing inner conflicts that block active listening, using self-coaching and journaling to gain clarity and improve soft skills.
CTFAR model3:38
Master the CTFAR model—circumstances, thoughts, feelings, actions, and results—to observe your inner world, shift thinking, and influence actions for improved outcomes in communication at work.
Ladder of inference model2:47
Closing - from skill to way of being2:27
Practice daily active listening by noticing drifts, coming back to the speaker, and applying the five-step process and supportive mindsets to improve real-life conversations.
Practicing and Integrating Active Listening
Self-Coaching for Authentic Active Listening
CTFAR in practice

Requirements

No prior knowledge or experience with active listening is needed
A willingness to reflect on your own communication habits and improve them
Openness to listening without judgment and trying new approaches in conversations
Basic ability to understand and follow spoken English

Description

Learn how to listen with more focus, empathy, and confidence, so you can communicate better in every area of your life.

Active listening is one of the most important communication skills you can develop. Whether you are speaking with a colleague, client, friend, partner, family member, or team member, the ability to truly listen can help you build trust, reduce misunderstandings, strengthen relationships, and respond with greater clarity.

In this course, you’ll discover simple, practical techniques to become a better listener in everyday conversations, work meetings, relationships, and difficult discussions. You’ll learn how to stay present, understand what others really mean, ask better questions, avoid interrupting, and respond in a way that makes people feel heard, valued, and respected.

Many people think listening is passive, but effective listening is an active skill. It requires attention, patience, emotional awareness, and the ability to focus on the other person without rushing to judge, fix, or respond. This course will help you recognize common listening mistakes and replace them with practical habits you can use immediately.

Throughout the course, you’ll learn how to:

Give your full attention during conversations
Show empathy without pretending to agree with everything
Ask thoughtful follow-up questions
Listen for meaning, emotion, and intention
Avoid interrupting or preparing your response too early
Use body language and verbal cues to show you are engaged
Handle difficult conversations with more calm and confidence
Make others feel genuinely heard and understood

This course is designed to be clear, practical, and easy to follow. You don’t need any previous communication training or special experience. The lessons are suitable for beginners and for anyone who wants to improve how they connect with others.

Whether you want to improve your communication skills, build stronger personal relationships, become more effective at work, support others more thoughtfully, or simply have better conversations, this course will give you practical tools you can apply right away.

By the end of this course, you’ll feel more confident in your ability to listen with focus, respond with empathy, and create conversations that feel more meaningful, respectful, and productive.

Who this course is for:

Professionals (developers, team members, managers) who want to communicate more effectively and build stronger relationships at work
People who feel they are “listening,” but still experience misunderstandings, tension, or unproductive conversations
Anyone who wants to handle difficult conversations with more clarity, calmness, and confidence
People interested in personal growth who want to turn active listening into a daily habit.

Active Listening: Better Communication & Soft Skills at Work

What you'll learn

Explore related topics

Course content

Introduction4 lectures • 14min

5 Steps of Active Listening7 lectures • 24min

Mindsets for active listenings7 lectures • 11min

Real-world problems active listening solves3 lectures • 5min

Integrating active listening6 lectures • 16min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: