Ahiyah taught the Besht how, when talking with someone, he should consider himself as if talking to God. If he asked a favor from someone, he should actually ask it — as a prayer — of God. Or, when he conversed, he could think that it was God's power and vitality, the Shechinah that was giving him the ability to talk, and the same was true for the other person; the Shechinah was speaking through him too. Thus, the Besht achieved equanimity by considering his speech and the other person's speech as coming from one mind (for according to the mystic teachings, all souls are one, and parts of the Shechinah), and he could hear what the other person said as a heavenly message spoken to him by god (regardless of the other person's intention).
Ahiyah also taught the Baal Shem Tov to train himself to elevate other people's conversation to its heavenly root. When someone else was speaking about a worldly matter, such as a desire, a love, for food, the Besht would remind himself of his love for God; when the other person was speaking about his fear of sickness, the Besht reminded himself of his fear and awe of God, and so on.
— Yitzhak Buxbaum, The Light and Fire of the Baal Shem Tov