The Health Coach’s Guide To Listener Types

Listener Type

As a health coach, you know that listening is the cornerstone of effective communication and transformative coaching. But did you know that different listener types can have an impact on a coach’s approach to a client? For example, active listening is great for building relationships, while informational listening is great for gathering details.

Whether you’re seeking your niche or looking to optimize your coaching environment, identifying your listener type will set you on the path to becoming an even more impactful health coach. Everyone listens in their way and listening in specific ways takes practice. So what type of listener are you?

Active Listener

Active listeners focus on a speaker’s words to understand the meaning and pay attention to facial expressions and body language to understand the context. They ask meaningful questions to show interest, better understand what is being said and indicate that they are paying attention.

People generally think of active listening when they want to improve their listening skills.

Active listeners are great at building personal relationships. People feel as though they are being heard when speaking to active listeners. They are great at avoiding distractions when listening and don’t have a problem giving people their full attention.

Active listening is an invaluable skill for Functional Medicine health coaches. Building trust with clients is key to helping them achieve their goals. What’s more, active listeners give their full attention to their clients. They ask the right questions and wait until their clients are finished before forming a response. Clients feel heard and understood.

Critical Listener

Critical listeners are problem-solvers and decision-makers. When they listen they are utilizing their critical thinking skills and analyzing information. They ask clarifying questions to avoid misunderstandings. Understanding context and nuance is important for critical listeners.

This listener type thrives in collaborative environments. While some experts say critical listening isn’t as helpful as active listening, those who practice critical listening can pick up what isn’t being said through tone and context. This can be helpful, especially when discussing difficult topics.

Critical listening is an active type of listening. It sparks conversations and leads others to think critically too. This type of listener is great at giving feedback or offering advice when asked.

Critical listening is important in health coaching. Analyzing information, understanding context, and critical thinking will help health coaches develop the best plan to help their client achieve their goals.

Informational Listener

Informational listeners are all about absorbing as much information from the speaker as possible. They concentrate on what is being said, paying close attention to key facts. Many times informational listeners will take notes to retain information for later.

Students, those going through training, and other lifelong learners can benefit from improving their information-listening skills. Health coaches looking to further their education should practice their informational listening skills.

Unlike other listener types, informational listening isn’t about giving feedback or sharing an opinion. It is about absorbing information. Informational listeners are great at researching because they focus on observing, listening, and taking notes.

Informational listening is a great skill for health coaches, especially those wanting to work in collaboration with physicians. Retaining information and making informed observations are important for collaboration.

Sympathetic Listener

Sympathetic listeners read between the lines. They focus on the feelings and emotions of the speaker, considering them just as much as the words being spoken. Noticing body language, eye contact, and tone of voice is just as important as the information being shared.

By tapping into the emotions behind the words, sympathetic listeners are great at building relationships. Sympathetic listening is a bit of a combination of active listening and critical listening. They analyze the emotions and tone like critical listeners but avoid making assumptions until they hear everything.

Sympathetic listeners make others feel heard. Their ability to understand the difference between how a speaker says they feel and how they feel is key. They can offer support and sympathy in ways other types of listeners cannot. This is what makes sympathetic listeners truly unique.

Sympathetic listening is a skill all health coaches share. It’s important to meet a client where they are, which means understanding their emotions as well as their issues, intentions, and goals. Health coaches are there for support.

Empathetic Listener

Empathetic listeners can put themselves in the speaker’s shoes and see things from another perspective. They are non-judgemental and offer understanding, compassion, and acceptance instead of opinions or advice unless asked.

Having empathy is vital to good communication, making empathetic listening an important skill to have, especially for health coaches. It helps better understand a person’s frustrations and obstacles.

Empathetic listening is crucial when heavy emotions are involved. This listener type is great at making others feel that their point isn’t less valid than others. They sometimes repeat back what the speaker has said, offering reflective and open-ended questions, allowing the speaker to feel seen and heard.

Empathetic listening is how a health coach can meet a client where they are in their wellness journey. They can put themselves in the shoes of the client in a way others can’t, allowing them to be non-judgmental and supportive in their care plan.

What Listener Type Are You?

Now that you have a better understanding of different types of listeners and what type you may be, you can work towards improving your overall listening skills. Everyone, even non-health coaches, can benefit from becoming better listeners. Listening is a vital component of building a career and improving relationships.