Listening as a Primary Negotiating Skill 25

fective listening techniques. Most of us assume we know what lis-

tening is. You heard your boss’s order, right? Well, hearing is only
the first part of listening. When you physically pick up sound waves
with your ears, you are hearing. But listening also involves inter-
preting what you hear. Then you must evaluate what you have
heard, weigh the information, and decide how you’ll use it. Finally,
on the basis of what you have heard and how you have evaluated
the information, you react. So a good listener—and an able negotia-
tor—hears, interprets, evaluates, and reacts.
Because of our misconceptions about what listening really is,
we end up doing a pretty poor job of it. Studies show that we spend
up to 80 percent of our waking hours communicating, and at least
45 percent of that time is spent listening. Other studies have shown
some disturbing facts: Immediately after a 10-minute oral presenta-
tion, the average listener understands and properly retains only
about half of what was said; within 48 hours, most people retain
only 25 percent of the information they heard.
One reason so many people are bad listeners is that they lack
training. Consider the four major communication skills we use
every day: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Remember, 45
percent of our time spent communicating involves listening, yet
listening is the least-taught communication skill (see Figure 4–1).
Why should we want to become better listeners? Because as
the Challenger disaster indicates, a failure to listen can cost lives.
Listening mistakes can also cost money. If every one of the 100
million–plus workers in the United States were to make a simple

FIGURE 4-1 COMMUNICATIONS SKILLS USED

VERSUS HOW THEY ARE TAUGHT

Proportion of All Teaching Emphasis

Communication Skill Communication Skills Used Ranking
Reading 19% 1
Writing 22% 2
Speaking 26% 3
Listening 33% 4

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