P eople who talk too much are annoying. I’m sorry but it’s true and I’m sure many of you have experienced the same thing at some point or another. There is always this person who just talks, and talks, and talks, and continues talking with no awareness that they may be boring others around them, or that no one is listening to them.
It’s hard to understand why these people actually talk too much. It could be either that they are attention seekers, they just love to hear themselves talk, or that they generally have no self awareness that they may be boring others around them. Some people are just that thick skinned.
For the more patient people, they would usually just humour them by listening them to talk. But for the more impatient people, how do we deal with these kind of individuals and not let the impatience show on our faces? Of course giving into the urge to yell “will you please shut up!” is not an option.
But these might help:
- Mental Distraction: If hearing them talk all the time drives you up the wall, try tuning them out by making a conscious effort to think of other things. When you’re consciously thinking about other things, you are able to tune them out easier and not get as impatient as you normally would.
- Selective Listening: You don’t have to actively listen all the time. Selective listening also involves mental distraction. Tune in and out of the conversation and just throw in an “Oh really?” and “That’s interesting” at the appropriate times.
- Stay Away: Of course this is the best option you can go for if you really have a hard time controlling your annoyance around such individuals. Stay away and avoid them as much as you possibly can. Or avoid being alone with them even. If there are others around besides yourself, you’ll be able to distract yourself better compared to if you were having a one on one conversation with them.
- Cut Them Off: If you really don’t feel like putting up with them, then firmly but politely cut them off and excuse yourself saying you have something else to do.
Image credits: inspirationandmotivationforall.blogspot.com, talkingalotblog.blogspot.com, tv.ign.com, wiredthoughts.com
