1.4.5 The Competent Communicator Is an Effective Listener

     Often we tend to think of competence in interpersonal communication as “speaking effectiveness,” paying little attention to listening. But listening is an integral part of interpersonal communication; you cannot be a competent communicator if you’re a poor listener.
     If you measured importance by the time you spend on an activity, then—according to the research studies available—listening would be your most important communication activity. Studies conducted from 1929 to 1980 show that listening was the most often used form of communication. For example, in a study of college students conducted in 1980 (Barker, Edwards, Gaines, Gladney, & Holley, 1980), listening also occupied the most time: 53 percent compared to reading (17 percent), speaking (16 percent), and writing (14 percent). In a more recent survey (Watkins, 2010), the figures for the four communication activities were: listening (40 percent), talking (35 percent), reading (16 percent), and writing (9 percent). Again, listening is the most often used of all communication activities.
     Because of the importance of listening, Chapter 4 is devoted exclusively to listening and covers the nature and importance of listening, the steps you go through in listening, the role of culture and gender in listening, and ways to increase your listening effectiveness.