Robert Bostrom's seminal contributions to listening theory and research represent an impressive legacy and provide listening scholars with important perspectives on the complexities of listening cognition and behavior. Bostrom's work provides a solid foundation on which to build models that more realistically explain how listeners function differently in different communication contexts and how speakers can facilitate successful listening in those contexts. Summarizing his research, Bostrom (1997) concludes that "we all vary in our ability to listen" (p. 254), an important reminder that a "one size fits all" model of the listening process may be a conceptual barrier to truly understanding what makes for successful listening.