Free · Certificate included
Building Empathy and Active Listening Skills
Connect with the people you serve by truly hearing them.
What you’ll learn
- Practice active listening that makes people feel heard
- Respond with empathy instead of judgment
- Pick up on what someone needs but isn’t saying
- Reflect feelings and meaning back so people feel understood
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Create a free account →Course outline
- 1
Why listening is the volunteer’s superpower
Most people think they’re good listeners.
4 min Quiz Interactive - 2
Empathy vs. sympathy
People use “empathy” and “sympathy” as if they’re the same.
4 min Quiz Interactive - 3
The anatomy of a listening moment
Active listening isn’t one move — it’s a loop.
5 min Quiz Interactive - 4
Hearing what isn’t said
A lot of what a person communicates never makes it into their words.
4 min Quiz Interactive - 5
Barriers that switch listening off
Even with the best intentions, listening fails in predictable ways.
4 min Quiz - 6
Empathy in action: a procedure you can use
When a conversation gets emotional, it helps to have a simple internal sequence to fall back on.
4 min Quiz Interactive - 7
Putting it together: a real conversation
Let’s walk one conversation end to end. You’re a volunteer at a community center. Dana, who comes in most weeks, sits down looking deflated and says, “I don’t even…
3 min Interactive
Sources & further reading
- Whole Being Institute (Rogers & Farson) — Active Listening — Carl R. Rogers & Richard E. Farson (full text)
- Boulder Crest Foundation (Brené Brown) — What Is Empathy? — the four attributes of empathy
- Lumen Learning (Public Speaking) — The Three A’s of Active Listening; listening efficiency & retention
- Big Think — The 7-38-55 rule: debunking the “golden ratio” of conversation
- EBSCO Research Starters — Active Listening — origins, components, and outcomes
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