Each day, you spend a lot of time listening to your professors, other students, family members, and friends—more time than you spend reading or writing (as shown in Figure 6.1). Using technology can fuse these categories; for example, when you’re reading a post that your friend wrote on your Facebook timeline, you’re also “listening” to the message your friend is conveying. Clearly, listening will remain a vital communication skill no matter how technology continues to evolve (Janusik & Wolvin, 2009).

But how, exactly, are you listening? Four distinct preferences, or styles, emerge when it comes to listening—regardless of whether the communication is face to face or through technology (Barker & Watson, 2000; Villaume & Bodie, 2007; Watson, Barker, & Weaver, 1995):

Although some people show a clear preference for one style over another, about 40 percent of people score high on two or more listening styles (Barker & Watson, 2000). Thus, the best listeners adapt their listening styles to different situations (Bodie & Villaume, 2003). For example, you may be more content-oriented while listening to a political debate so you can analyze the information and make a judgment, more people-oriented when consoling a friend because you care about maintaining the relationship, more action-oriented during a meeting on a group project, or time-oriented when you’re working under a tight deadline.