The Fine Art of Shutting Up: Communication Skills

I watch the news a lot and I see all these people trying to talk at the same time. Interrupting each other is nothing new, but they used to curb it a bit on TV. I was on TV and hosted radio shows years ago (I still do some Radio from time to time) and not interrupting each other was part of being professional. But now it’s like crazy drunk people at a college party trying to tell their best story. Of course we expect some people to do it; Bill O’Reilly is just an incurable chronic interrupter. He is not so much rude, as he is just psychotically driven to talk while his guest (or victim) is still talking. He makes a good point I guess every now and then but it’s difficult to see his style as effective; and it just makes for low quality, yet some how popular, television.  As a person who likes to talk and someone who has been known to interrupt people myself, I think we need to be aware of what it looks and sounds like to an audience. As a salesperson years ago, I had a boss that told me that I was a great presenter but I talked too much. He said, “As much as you talk you should go into a meeting and try to say nothing. If you do that, I’m sure you will have said just-enough.”

The lesson: What comes out the other person’s mouth means more to them than what comes out of your mouth. (That’s worst sentence I’ve written in 3 years but I think you get my point). If you let people talk you have more control over the outcome of the discussion and you don’t look ridiculous to other people watching/listening to your conversation.

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