The Listening Guide: Our Creative Process
Active Listening is a key skill that anyone can learn. It can support relationships to be built on trust and safety, and enable deeper connections to form. In a participatory arts context, Active Listening is a vital part of successful, trauma-informed workshop delivery.
Our projects are founded on the principle that creativity can offer a route towards post-traumatic growth, and we deliver many different types of multidisciplinary arts activities, supporting children and young people to feel seen, heard and valued. Active Listening is a key part of our approach, building on our commitment to ‘Embody Relationships’.
In our workshops we also utilise our Cycle of Co-Production model, which sets out different stages of a design and delivery process. From the start of our journey into designing our Active Listening resource, we used this model to ensure a fully collaborative, creative process.
The Need
Beginning with The Need, we began our process by reflecting on the core relational skills required for building connection and attunement with young people on our programmes. Conversations with young people from our Brighter Futures programme supported us to think about Active Listening as essential for positive relationship building.
We delved into peer-reviewed research online and offline to discover the varying perspectives of leading experts in the field. We also reflected on our own lived experiences of feeling both heard and unheard, and the impact this has had on our sense of connectedness.
During our research we discovered the American psychologist Carl Rogers, who identified three core qualities of Active Listening: empathy, unconscious positive regard and congruence.
The Plan
Having been through similar creative processes before with our Amplify Guide and Animating Adversity series, we outlined a schedule to drive the forward the creation of the resource and animation, which also allowed room for change and flexibility.
At this stage we also reached out to creative freelancers that have worked with us on numerous projects. Robin Lane-Roberts, a talented illustrator and animator, Joe Fleming, a creative composer and musician, and Kathryn Corlett, a dynamic illustrator and graphic designer. Each of these artists have completed numerous projects with Kazzum, and collaborated as a team, so were familiar with the process. Together we decided on the initial look, feel and sound, by sharing colour palettes, character designs and a playlist for musical inspiration. The excitement of the project carried us through the summer months of 2024.
The Process
Once the research phase was completed, we built a structure around the key messaging for the guide. Collating the findings together, our Artistic Director Alex began writing up the bulk of the guide, drawing on his extensive experience in the field of trauma-informed practice and a knowledge-base developed through training facilitation and research.
We drew up a storyboard draft for the animation, which would also feed into the visuals for the guide. This initial draft was pursued for a few weeks before eventually being scrapped, as it felt too similar to our Animating Adversity series. We wanted The Listening Guide to stand alone, and so we took out our pens and paper again and found a new direction.
With a storyboard locked in, and our animator Robin working away in his studio, we turned to the original composition of the music and voiceover. We simplified and finalised the script, and recorded the voiceover in our office!
Once the storyboard had been brought to life through Robin’s expressive, colourful animations, we added details and touches to deepen the expressions and add an imaginative quality to the world of the characters. We asked Kathryn to bring her graphic design skills and draw together the visual language from the animation and the copy written by Alex (with multiple edits from the team!) to design The Listening Guide as it is today.
The Result
The result of this extensive collaborative effort is accessible via the button below: A guide for creative practitioners for Active Listening and its application in facilitation with children and young people.
We would love to know what you think! Let us know on social media or via email – we are excited to hear about whether you have used the techniques and how it has affected your practice.
We would also love to know what you want to see in our next resource. After Animating Adversity, Amplify and The Listening Guide, we are now thinking about our next guide for creative practitioners exploring the best in trauma-informed relational practice. Reach out and let us know what would help to develop your creative facilitation in the future!