Listening is a skill that requires active rather than passive participation to advance shared understanding and minimize errors of interpretation. Active listening strategies such as analyzing and displaying non-verbal body language, clarifying meaning and accuracy, expressing understanding of the speaker's feelings through empathy and moments of silence contribute to effective communication. These methods encourage the speaker to express their thoughts and minimize misinterpretation between the sender and receiver. In order to discuss this topic, it is necessary to determine the definition of the terms effective communication and active listening. Effective communication occurs when there is a shared understanding between the sender and the receiver (Eunson 2008: 9). Active listening is a listening skill that "focuses on... cues, that is, statements and/or behaviors that are not explicit but may have particular meaning and suggest ideas , concerns and unshared expectations” (Lang et al 2000: 222). Active listening is as much a visual activity as it is an auditory one. Non-verbal body language such as eye contact and body position allows the listener to fully understand the point the speaker is communicating while, for the listener, displaying positive messages through these channels allows the listener to the speaker to know that there is an interest and that his full attention is being paid. given to what is said. Simon Armson illustrated this point when he said: "If you listen to everything you hear, not just the words, but what's going on around them, you get a much richer picture" (quoted in Theobald & Cooper 2004: 103). Nonverbal signals such as eye contact, reflecting the speaker's mannerisms, facing the speaker with an open body posture and n...... middle of paper ......an, DT 2009, Les basics of communication: a relational perspective, Sage Publications, Canada.Eunson, B 2008, Communicating in the 21st Century, 2nd edn, Wiley, Milton.Rogers, CR & Farson, RE 1987, 'Active listening', Global Effectiveness Training, accessed March 25, 2011, < http://www.go-get.org/pdf/Rogers_Farson.pdf>.Theobald, T & Cooper, CL 2004, Shut up and listen! : the truth about how to communicate at work, Kogan Page, London; Sterling, VA.West, R & Turner, L 2009, Understanding interpersonal communication: making choices in changing times, 2nd ed., Wadsworth Cengage Learning, Boston.Lang, F, Floyd, MR & Beine, KL 2000, “Clues for patients” explanations and concerns about their illness: a call for active listening”, Archives of Family Medicine, vol. March 9, 2000, pp. 222 – 227, accessed March 27 2011, .