Doug Noll explains reflective listening, which mirrors both what someone says and how they feel. Unlike active listening, this approach builds trust and de-escalates conflict in 90 seconds by validating emotion alongside content.
Chapters
Reflective listening would be to say something like, what you just said was XYZ, or, wow, Danny, you're really pissed and you're frustrated and you're angry and you feel completely disrespected. So I'm reflecting back your— what you're saying, what you're communicating, the content, and your emotional experience at the same time. And that's called reflective listening. Very different than active listening. That I call it listening other people into existence. That's the topic of my fourth book, De-Escalate: How to Calm an Angry Person in 90 Seconds or Less. And the whole, the whole concept is around listening to emotions rather than to words. Interesting. Because when people feel validated, they feel like you get them. Mm-hmm. They feel, they, they feel like you get them. Then guess what? You have trust and loyalty, and from that follows connection and collaboration. And you end all conflict. Like, my, my promise to my clients is you'll, you'll learn these skills and you'll never have a fight or argument again in your life.