So often, it is the loud and brazen who are revered. In the past century, those with skilled communication, such as Winston Churchill and Martin Luther King , have held a dazzling legacy as motivators, transcending the boundaries of spoken rhetoric through emphasis and emotion. A public speaker is regularly seen as the architect of persuasion and seduction. But spare a thought for the listener, whose job is as every bit important as it is undervalued. To some, it may sound strange to focus on listening as a skill. We will all proclaim to listen well, after all, how hard can it actually be? On the face of it, all it takes is to let another speak, and perhaps acknowledge the content of what they have said. It is this attitude that leaves us confused at some of the problems engulfing our own personal and interconnected worlds. I feel as if it is quite common for people, myself included, to nod along in conversation, waiting for our turn to speak about the things that are most important