Active Listening (as Technique)
The specific craft of listening for content, subtext, emotion, and rhythm simultaneously — taught as a trainable skill, not a given.
Known for
- Spolin's Point of Concentration — focus on a concrete thing to stop listening for what you'll say next.
- UCB drill: repeat your partner's last word before speaking. Slows the planning brain, forces you to hear.
- The distinction: 'waiting for my turn' listening is reactive; active listening is composing a response from what was actually said.