Talking 1/3 of the time seems like exactly the right proportion. See this article, also by my dad: http://wisdom.tenner.org/1/post/2011/07/the-small-wheel-list

Talking 1/3 of the time seems like exactly the right proportion. See this article, also by my dad: http://wisdom.tenner.org/1/post/2011/07/the-small-wheel-listen-ask-speak.html http://wisdom.tenner.org/1/post/2011/07/the-small-wheel-list... Ultra-condensed summary: if you want people to pay attention to what you say, spend 1/3 of the time listening with your mouth shut, 1/3 rephrasing and asking clarifying questions to make sure that you've understood, and only after that, spend 1/3 of the time actually saying things (which now have a chance of being listened to...).