Active listening is awesome... You make a lot of good points here. Paying attention and trying to never interrupt in a one on one convo is key.

I would say that with some of the more specific advice - like opening questions and ways to respond to things.. those are good training wheels, and then as you become more comfortable, you can forget about the "tactics" and focus more on acting naturally.

This post is a great resource for anybody going to steemfest... if everyone actually listens to each other, it will be a great fest.