We help them to be aware that we all have a great capacity for active listening. The problem is that we only use it on rare occasions. In order to be an excellent active listener, we need to put ourselves in a “state of alert”, and focus all our attention on what we are being told.

And that only happens when we are very personally interested in what someone says:
Whether it is because we think he wants to deceive us, or because he can give us very relevant information... Our challenge is to make a conscious effort to put ourselves in a “state of alert”, and use our active listening skills in a more intentional way.