Yesterday I had the privilege of speaking at Princeton University in an ongoing series. Yesterday’s topic was communication or, as I said to them, it might be better described as miscommunication.

Did you know that we speak between 7,000-20,000 words per day? Men, it shouldn’t surprise you that you fall on the lower end of that range. We hear between 20,000-30,000 words per day. 70-80% of our day is engaged in some form of communication and just over half of that time will be devoted to listening. But, the question remains: how much did we actually hear and absorb?

It appears, not so much. On average, we remember about 17-25% of what we hear and that may be generous. Ladies, we may talk more but we listen better! We use both lobes of our brain to listen, while men only use half. So if at work or home you find yourself saying “Are my words falling on deaf ears?” The answer is, well, “yes!” Verizon may have nailed it by continually asking “Can you hear me now?”

With Gratitude,
Beth