Be a better friend, be a better listener. Here's how to improve your listening skills.
1. Maintaining eye contact

It doesn’t take much to be a good listener to begin with but the right question would be how engaged are you in your conversations? Are you paying attention to the speaker or are you zoning out into your own la-la land? Assuming your answer is in favour of proving the point, this clarifies that it’s quite difficult for us to provide our undivided attention during a conversation without being distracted by our surroundings. Hence, maintaining eye contact is one of the biggest steps towards being a better listener. Eye contact is essential as it allows people to show that they’re listening and that they respect what others have to say. It also increases the likelihood that they’ll remember the information from the conversation.
Whilst it’s impossible for us to apply this concept in mediated conversations, it can be altered to disciplining ourselves to pay attention during calls or texting. Don’t explore other apps or do anything else when you’re on the phone as it diminishes the purpose. Also, this means we shouldn’t form our response or opinions while the other person is talking. You’ve to learn how to be present instead of multitasking and just listen.