Listen Up or Lose Out

9

Whose Turn Is It?

There is a time to be silent and a time to speak.

—ECCLESIASTES 3:7

PERHAPS THE FUNDAMENTAL of interpersonal communication that’s most ignored is the issue of which party should have the floor. Although people engage in all kinds of conversations, most folks use one of two habitual approaches to participating in them. Some tend to take the floor and do most of the talking. For instance, the late actress, talk show host, and brash comedian Joan Rivers described her style as, “I enter talking.” And she often kept the verbal onslaught ...