Active listening — Interview skills for students

Tip

Listen, check, reply — “give full attention, check you understood, then answer”

1. Good listening: steady eye contact, nodding now and then, short notes, waiting for a pause, asking a follow-up, summing up their point.
2. Poor listening: checking your phone, interrupting, finishing their sentence, changing the topic, only waiting to talk.
3. Check what you heard by saying it in your own words (paraphrasing). If you did not hear, politely ask them to repeat.

Use it for: Classes, instructions for projects, interviews, phone calls, group work and every conversation with a friend.

Worked example: 👂 Good or poor listening: asking a follow-up? → good listening

✏️ Practice

Work it out in your head or on paper, type the answer and press Check. Stuck? Press “Show me how”.

🏁 Lesson 1 test

20 questions. Check each answer, then go to the next one. Get 16 or more right to pass.

🏅 Sign in with Google to earn the 👂 Active Listener badge when you pass — and a certificate when you finish all 8 lessons of Part 1 · Communication skills. You can still take the test without signing in.

🖨️ Communication Skills Worksheet: Active Listening

• Worksheet set 1 (PDF)
• Worksheet set 2 (PDF)
• Worksheet set 3 (PDF)