A survey of business people was conducted to assess the importance of listening and the deficiency in that skill and to identify existing listening training programs for future study. The questionnaire was developed to assess the importance and status of listening by placing it randomly among several other communication competencies. Subjects were the presidents, personnel directors, and training directors of 72 corporations with over 1,000 employees. Nineteen presidents, 16 personnel directors, 25 training directors, and 11 other corporate officers from 45 corporations responded. Telephone interviews followed up on those companies that had listening training programs, and permission was asked to observe those programs. Results indicated that sending messages was perceived as more important than receiving them; however, listening, a receptive skill, was considered more important than reading and speaking. Receptive skills were more important in the oral medium, while expressive skills were more important in the written mode. Overall, the oral was the more important medium. The results indicate that improving listening skills deserves special attention from trainers and communication educators. (JL)