What is the first thing you must do to be a effective listener

Hello there!

You need to listen to the person who is talking.

Then after they finished talking, try to repeat what they said so that the person can see that you were listening to them.

For example:

Hey, I am John and I live in Florida.  Blablabla blablabla.

Then after you finished listening to what he's saying. You can come up with something like this:

Hi John, I am Jack. Wow, you live in Florida; have you ever been to the beach?

As you can see, you repeat the name of the person. This will show him that you already remember his name.

I hope this helps. As always, it is my pleasure to help students like you!