Active Listening Skills (403)

3 June 2025

Dr Fernanda Salina

Active Listening (AL) can be simple defined as the deliberate intention and ability of the listener to hear and understand the speaker. AL is a more sophisticated process than simply hearing, since the listener is required to apply different techniques and adopt specific behaviors to better understand and empathize with the speaker. Good leaders are good listeners. Speakers that go through the experience of being active listened feel acknowledged and respected and therefore they are more willing to cooperate. In this sense, being an active listener is essential for problem-solving as well as to perform management and leadership roles.This workshop propose the participants to work on their own listening style in order to create self-awareness of their listening patterns, identify the internal and external barriers that could impair an effective communication, and acquire a set of skills and techniques that will foster their professional and personal development.

Course Content:

• The Listening process: how you got to be the listener you are.
• The most common barriers between listeners and speakers.
• Listening to yourself: the starting point to improve your relationships with others.
• Making listening work for you: techniques and strategies.
• The power of body language and the non-verbal communication.

Learning outcomes:

After this course, participants should be able to:

• Recognize their own listening pattern.
• Identify the main obstacles or barriers that impede an effective communication.
• Being aware of their internal dialogue.
• Implement the different techniques such as: setting an AL state of mind, avoiding premature judgement, reflecting understanding, clarifying information, summarizing and sharing.
• Manage the non-verbal messages as an effective tool of communication.

University of Geneva

Date: Tuesday 3rd June 2025

Schedule: 9:30 am to 5:30 pm

Location: University of Geneva 

Trainer:

Dr Fernanda Salina is an international lawyer and consultant based in Geneva. Her main interest is to empower and enhance the potential of individuals and organizations in the prevention, management and settlement of their conflicts and disputes.
She has more than 20 years of professional experience from both private sector and academia.
In addition to five years as an in-house lawyer in the banking sector and oil industry, she has more than 15 years of international experience as a researcher, lecturer and trainer in the fields of International Law, International Negotiation and International Mediation.
Dr Salina is an accredited mediator before the Swiss Chamber of Commercial Mediation. She holds a Ph.D. in International Studies with specialization in International Law from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva; an Advanced Masters in International Studies, Peace and Conflict Resolution from the University of Queensland, Australia; a Masters of Laws (LL.M.) in Public International Law from Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands; a Bar Admission in Argentina and a Professional Law degree from Universidad Católica Argentina.

Participants are eligible for reimbursement of incurred travel expenses by train between the city of their university and the location of the workshop (half-fare card, 2nd class).

10