During a Conversation, on
average a good interrupter interrupts you 10 or more times in the first hour.
Unbearable, is not it?
We live in a culture where
interrupting is common and accepted. Being interrupted is frustrating for
anyone even worse if you are a shy, soft-spoken, or introverted person, it can
make it especially difficult to communicate.
Cutting in while we are speaking
can be a way of asserting dominance or disinterest in what we are saying.
On this topic, we have a
problem: Plenty of chronic interrupters do not know that they are chronic
interrupters. Many times, the person who frequently interrupts others is not
aware of the habit.
Reflective listening could be
a solution
When the listener rephrases what
the speaker said and reflects back what was heard. This gives the opportunity
to really clarify the discussion and also stop interruptions.
Continuing to talk after
being interrupted is also an ineffective solution for soft-spoken
communicators. If the other party is talking at the same time, there’s no
feedback, which makes communication not only pointless, but also impossible by
definition.
People tend to interrupt more
often when they were leaning away, not making eye contact, and smiling. This suggests
that subtle cues, like leaning in and meeting the other person’s eyes can show
your engagement in the conversation, making an interruption less likely.
We need to get more assertive:
not being confrontational, just being direct. We have to inform, before a
conversation starts, that we do not appreciate being interrupted and we would
like to finish expressing ourselves. If people refuse to accept these
reasonable requests, we can respectfully state that the conversation is not
productive and that it would be best to talk another time.
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