Reading makes a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man.

Francis Bacon, English philosopher and writer

‘It is the good reader that makes the good book,’ said the American writer and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson. But what makes a good reader?

Reading is the fourth of the core skills of communication. Perhaps more than listening it is the forgotten or neglected one. Few books on communication give it the space it deserves.

One difficulty is that the English language doesn’t have separate terms equivalent to hearing and listening for the written or printed word, and so reading covers them both. Reading can be merely taking in or comprehending what is on paper or screen.

However, good reading is listening in action again, giving time and thoughtful attention to what you are reading and remaining alive to all the possibilities it suggests. In other words, you need to be open and receptive to what the writer has to say. To have an open mind when you are young is easy; to keep it open as you grow older is an art.

The four skills – speaking, listening, writing and reading – are not separate entities: they interact with and enrich each other. It’s a package deal. If you never read, for example, if nothing less it will affect your vocabulary and hence your ability to speak, listen or write.