Great post as usual, blabbermouth…

@hubs – good thing I looked that up awhile ago – I never understood it before I did.

@Vicki – yeah he’s pretty amazing, huh?

I like your point on listening. I talk a lot too, and I try to catch myself if I’m being overwhelming. But I don’t stop listening. Although I still get caught with meeting someone and not using their name right away and losing it. So I will admit guilty to that here and there. But that’s usually because we may already be up to the point of engaging in a dialog, that we didn’t yet see the name value as we didn’t know where the conversation would go. Never be ashamed to ask the name again, it shows you value what that person enough to get beyond any embarrassment. But listen that time, and repeat their name when addressing them shortly thereafter to lock it in.

Your point about “not just planning what to say next”. That’s key. People get afraid they are going to forget their own point, and listening shuts off, but it’s also possible that if you listen, you’ll see that the point you don’t want to forget is no longer applicable where the conversation has headed. If it’s relevant enough you won’t forget it, and then you won’t miss the other person’s point.

I once called a co-worker out on the carpet for waiting to talk. He got kind of pissed and seemed to take it personal. I had a good enough relationship with the person at the time to behave this way, and figured it would help him out, but actually it happened often enough that his non-sequiturs made it clear that there were plenty of times anything I said didn’t even go in one ear and out the other. It was like he ducked out of the way and my words just head into someone’s else’s cubicle.

Now what were you saying about being a chatterbox?