Why is it important to study listening in a public speaking class? How important is this topic relative to the others in the text?

What will be an ideal response?

- It is important to check the accuracy of what you have heard.
- Effective listening enables you to provide effective feedback.
- Everyone spends far more time listening than they do speaking, so it is important to do it well.
- Listening carefully to others helps you improve your own speaking skills.
- If you do not listen carefully, you will not know how to evaluate or respond to what you have heard.
- This topic is important because listening leads to the ability to engage in rhetorical criticism, which makes a better speaker. (Students might also compare the amount of time spent listening to the amount of time spent speaking.)