Do you know what does “active listening” mean?

== First of all, Listening is the most fundamental component of interpersonal communication skills.
It is not something that just happens (that is hearing), listening is an active process in which a conscious decision is made to listen to and understand the messages of the speaker.
== Listeners should remain neutral and non-judgmental; this means trying not to take sides or form opinions, especially early in the conversation.
== 'Active listening' means, as its name suggests, actively listening, and fully concentrating and intentionally focusing on what is being said rather than just ‘hearing’ the message of the speaker.
Active listening involves listening with all senses, and it is type of skills that can be acquired and developed with practice.
However, this skill can be difficult to master and will, therefore, take time and patience.
== As well as giving full attention to the speaker, it is important that the ‘active listener’ is also ‘seen’ to be listening - otherwise the speaker may conclude that what they are talking about is uninteresting to the listener.
== Active listening is also about patience - pauses and short periods of silence should be accepted.
Listeners should not be tempted to jump in with questions or comments every time there are a few seconds of silence.
Active listening involves giving the other person time to explore their thoughts and feelings, they should, therefore, be given adequate time for that ==Active listening not only means focusing fully on the speaker but also actively showing verbal and non-verbal signs of listening.
Interest can be conveyed to the speaker by maintaining eye contact, nodding your head and smiling, agreeing by saying ‘Yes’ or simply' hmm’ to encourage them to continue.
== Besides, as the listener, you should then be able to repeat back in your own words what they have said to their satisfaction.
This does not mean you agree with the person, but rather understand what they are saying.
By providing this 'feedback' the person speaking will usually feel more at ease and therefore communicate more easily, openly and honestly.
== Examples on Non-verbal signs of attentive or active listening like: SMILE, EYE CONTACT, POSTURE, MIRRORING, and DISTRACTION.
While Verbal signs of attentive or active listening are like: Positive Reinforcement, Remembering, Questioning, Reflection, Clarification and Summarisation.

Eyes, body and mind ...
in one line.....

According to Wikipedia, active listening is a communication technique that requires the listener to feed back what they hear to the speaker, by way of re-stating or paraphrasing what they have heard in their own words, to confirm what they have heard and moreover, to confirm the understanding of both parties.
When interacting, people often "wait to speak" rather than listening attentively.
They might also be distracted.
Active listening is a structured way of listening and responding to others, focusing attention on the "function" of communicating objectively as opposed to focusing on "forms", passive expression or subjectivity.
There are many opinions on what is "active listening".
A search of the term reveals interpretations of the "activity" as including "interpreting body language" or focusing on something other than or in addition to words.
Successful communication is the establishment of common ground between two people—understanding.
Agreeing to disagree is common ground.
Common ground can be false, i.e., a person says they feel a certain way but they do not.
Nevertheless it is common ground, once accepted as understood.
Dialogue, understanding and progress can only arise from that common ground.
And that common ground cannot be established without respect for the words as spoken by the speaker, for whatever reason.
Thus the essence of active listening is as simple as it is effective: paraphrasing the speakers words back to them as a question.
There is little room for assumption or interpretation.
It is functional, mechanical and leaves little doubt as to what is meant by what is said.
"The process is successful if the person receiving the information gives feedback which shows understanding for meaning.
Suspending one's own frame of reference, suspending judgment and avoiding other internal mental activities are important to fully attend to the speaker.

Listing is most imortant in communication because if our listning skills are not good we can't interpret what other person want to say , this creats confussion and miscommunication.