Be direct and look the other person in the eye while you talk. Avoiding eye contact may cause what you say to be taken as untruthful. Recount or reflect what the other person says. Of course that's o.k. Listen for concepts and don't concentrate on facts.
Facts are there to back up the concepts.
I went to college years ago and because no one ever told me this, I made lots of totally useless notes with all sorts of facts. Try to use your thought speed to mentally recap what is being said. You think more than 4 times faster than a speaker will be speaking. Don't waste that thought speed on anything else. There is always a big loss.