Talking is a great communication skill, a wonderful way to get across instructions, information, and to impart knowledge to others, but in order for this to occur there has to be a receptive person on the other side that is actually engaged in listening and responding to us as opposed to simply going through the motions of a kind of listening. Too often we don't actually have conversations, but simply people taking turns talking to which neither side pays full or even much attention to what the other person is saying, because they often are too concerned about themselves and what they want to say to put forth the effort or to have the desire to actually listen to what the other person has to say and this results in a pathetic version of communication.
Listening is a skill, to which some people are naturally more adept at listening than others, but it is a skill that can be developed in all. The first part of listening is to acknowledge that in order to effectively do so, you have to remain both calm and focused. There are a high percentage of people that believe that they can effectively listen while multi-tasking, so they blithely go about their business, mutteringthings such as "uh huh", "hmmmm", and "yes, I see", during lulls in the conversation as if that feeble attempt to demonstrate that they are listening is actually valid, but alas it is not. Also, it is not possible to listen well if you are overly excited, impatient, upset, or lacking in respect for the speaker, as most of their words will simply travel in through one ear and then out through your other ear. Sometimes too, when in a classroom, for instance, despite your best attempts to actually listen well and to comprehend what is being said, the subject matter that is being discussed is beyond you, of little interest to you, or too mundane for you, or the speaker goes too quickly from point-to-point for you, so that you fall behind, lose interest, or simply become lost and thereby your attention to this speaker drops down near to zero.
The main reason that listening is so important is that it translates into being able to learn better, to comprehend better, to achieve more successful communication, and for being receptive to accepting wisdom. Reading is a form of listening, meditation is a form of listening, quietness is a form of listening, and all of these are necessary in order to hear that quiet, still voice that stirs within your heart, your soul, and your mind. You can never hear the words of our Lord, if you do all the talking; you can never rise above the material, if all you ever contemplate or think about is the material. In the quietness and silence of our environment, we are in those moments most susceptible to receiving the bliss of eternal joy and recognizing that in this ineffable serenity we are able to for the very first time to reach out and touch the very finger of God.