TESOL Pop S9E7 | Teaching Active Listening Skills with Shweta Ramkumar

Communications Coach Shweta Ramkumar ‪@HealthyDynamics‬ shares insights into teaching active listening skills to healthcare professionals. In this episode, Shweta explains what active listening is, why it's important and how we can develop this skill in the ESL classroom.

KEY TALKING POINTS

1. Defining Active Listening
Shweta talks about being present in the moment, holding space, and empathising as just a few characteristics that differentiate active listening from other types. Shweta shares insights into working with healthcare professionals and how active listening is crucial to their work.

2. Active Listening in the Classroom
Shweta reflects on why active listening is so challenging to apply in teaching and other professions due to the multiple tasks we have to manage. Pulling on her own experience, Shweta shares the negative consequences of not practising active listening in our classrooms and workplaces.

3. Active Listening Training
Shweta shares how she introduces active listening to her clients by getting them to reflect on what they miss in a conversation. By starting with a short warmer of sharing about herself, Shweta encourages her clients to reflect on what they can recall and what they missed as a first step.

4. Paraphrasing as a Tool
Shweta suggests paraphrasing in the classroom to help learners feel seen and heard. Paraphrasing can replace parroting and asking each other to repeat.

Learn more about Shweta's work
YouTube ‪@HealthyDynamics‬
LinkedIn   / shweta-ramkumar-b4906515  
TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@healthydynami...
Website https://www.thehealthydynamics.com/

REFERENCES
Healthy Dynamics (2023). The Do's and Don'ts of Active Listening. YouTube. Available here:    • Active Listening  

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CREDITS
Producer Laura Wilkes
Editor Haven Tsang
Thanks to our inspiring guest, Shweta Ramkumar.

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