We spend roughly 60 percent of our communication time listening, but we’re not very good at it. We retain just 25 percent of what we hear.

Julian Treasure, a consultant and speaker on sound and communication, uses this statistic-driven line in his talks and writing to frame the problem of “lost” communication. It typically appears as part of his argument that modern environments (noise, distraction, multitasking, and habitual impatience) have degraded our listening skills even though listening occupies the largest share of our communicative day. By pairing a time-allocation figure (about 60% listening) with a low retention claim (about 25%), Treasure sets up the need for deliberate listening practices—attention, intention, and techniques for better comprehension—before moving on to practical guidance.

Treasure is underscoring a mismatch between how much of our communicative life is spent receiving information and how little of it we effectively absorb. The figures function rhetorically to jolt the audience into recognizing listening as an active skill rather than a passive state. By pairing “time spent” with “retention,” the quote suggests that attention, comprehension, and memory are not automatic outcomes of hearing; they require intention and technique. In the context of modern workplaces and media-saturated environments, the line also implies that poor listening has measurable costs—misunderstandings, repeated work, and weakened relationships—making listening competence a practical, trainable form of literacy.