Listening is the most difficult skill to learn, and the most important to have. In our business of advertising, learning how to listen--and really hear--what people say can make all the difference. When you listen well you hear:

• what consumers say and what they really mean
• what your clients are really looking to achieve, including hidden agendas
• what people think is important about their jobs, their family, and their personal ambitions

Learning to talk is relatively easy. Spend twice as much time learning to listen as you do learning to talk.

Lynn Upshaw

Chief Operating Officer, Ketchum Advertising, San Francisco

Quoted in Richard Edler's If I knew then what I know know