Successful workplaces are usually characterised by good communication. Bosses provide a clear sense of where they want the firm to go; employees feel able to voice disagreements; colleagues share information rather than hoarding it. But being a good communicator is too often conflated with one particular skill: speaking persuasively.

In a paper published in 2015, Dr Kyle Brink of Western Michigan University and Dr Robert Costigan of St John Fisher College found that 76 per cent of undergraduate business degrees in America had a learning goal for presentation skills, but only 11 per cent had a goal related to listening. Business students were being schooled to give Ted talks rather than have conversations.