Let's quote Winston Churchill:
Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak.
Courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.

Listening is a mayor skill we can cultivate.
This skill helps us to connect better with others and build stronger relationships.
Where would we be and who would we be without those people.

Learning to listen is as important to a career or business as learning to speak well.
Communication isn’t complete without both functions.
We learn more by listening than we ever do by talking, so it is particular crucial to listen well.

Here are some tips for good listening skills:

• Listen actively
  Listening is an active, not a passive, process.
  Concentrate completely on the speaker.

• Keep an open mind
  The trap that many people fall into is to allow their own beliefs and perceptions to influence what they are hearing.
  Stay open minded!

• Keep eye contact
  Keep eye contact! Look at people when they’re speaking.
  Staring at them would make them feel uncomfortable but by retaining eye contact most of the time you will maintain the connection with them.

• Make notes
  Taking notes is very helpful. It means that you have a record of what’s being said.
  It also shows the speaker that you regard what they say to be important.

• Be patient
  Don’t interrupt or jump in with an answer or solution.
  Concentrate entirely on what they are saying.

• Use questions
  Occasionally, and politely, clarify what the other just said.
  It helps check your level of understanding.
  It also tells the other person that you’re deeply interested in what they’re saying.
  The technique called paraphrasing, means as you are taking elements of the conversation and repeating them back to summarize facts and figures, while confirming full comprehension of the content.
  Asking questions is also an excellent way of taking control over the conversation and to stimulate the speaker.

• Listen to the voice
  We are all fairly good at picking up on a person’s tone of voice and most of us realize that the tone will ultimately decide the meaning of the words.
  The point is, you will believe their tone of voice before you believe the words they use.
  More often the tone can be very subtle, so you need to listen closely to pick up on a meaning.
  Many people don’t pick up on what people really mean and often give an inappropriate response.
  Develop skill to ensure an understanding of what people really are saying.

• Be aware of the body language
  Body language tells you so much about how a person is feeling and often what they really mean.
  Body language will usually confirm or contradict what is being said.
  People tend to believe what they see rather than what they hear.
  Take into account what you see in the other person but don’t fall into any traps.
  Body language does send out various messages.
  However, we need to become skilled in understanding what these messages really mean.
  It’s an important area of human communication.

• Practice
  It’s like any other skill, the more you practice listening the better you’ll become.
  Commit to practicing your listening skills whenever you come into contact with someone.
  There are so many occasions in business or socially to really listen to another human being.