What women want: listen with your heart

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez 🇨🇦 on Unsplash

We always want to feel important. Listening to your spouse is a good approach to communicate this to them. Dr. Gary Smalley outlines five useful tips for improving your listening abilities.

You’ll soon get to the heart of the subject, which is important to her. Try these and see how she appreciates your efforts.

1. Establish and maintain eye contact. Maintaining eye contact remains one of the most effective ways to show your loved one that you are paying close attention. Lock your gaze on hers and listen to what she says without appearing to stare through her.
2. Halt all other activities. When someone you care about wants to talk to you — when she has something very important to talk to you about that requires all of your attention — make sure you can do it in an environment devoid of distractions.
3. Let your loved one know you’re paying attention. In addition to maintaining eye contact, show her that you are listening carefully and attentively by nodding and other gestures of attention.
4. Speak occasional phrases of agreement or comprehension. While listening to your loved one, it is appropriate to add words that indicate that you understand how they feel. Simple sentences such as “Well, I can see why you would feel that way” or “I will feel exactly the same way myself” may do a lot…