Master effective listening

Focus on the speaker.
The act of sitting silently and letting people rant about their lives does not make you a good listener. You need to wrap your mind around what's important to them and focus closely on the collection of ideas, emotions, and revelations coming from the speaker.

Follow up.
A real follow-up question is when you put yourself in their shoes and try to understand the details they have to deal with.Try placing the questions from their perspective and what matters to them.

Fight the urge to talk about yourself.
Your job is to give them a safe emotional space where they can explore ideas, be honest with feelings, and otherwise come up with a sense of clarity. Talking about yourself will only make them feel marginalized and unimportant.