Once you recognize that you talk too much, you can take steps to stop doing it. Your friends will thank you.
Some people have trouble telling the difference between being a good conversationalist and talking too much. Unfortunately, not everyone is good at determining how much talking achieves a good balance. Once you recognize that you talk too much, you can take steps to stop doing it. Here is tell if you talk too much and what to do if you do.
Instructions
Tell if You Talk Too Much
1. Ask yourself if your conversations are balanced. Does your typical conversation provide a balance of how much each person is talking? If not, then you are likely talking too much.
2. Consider how much you learn about another person. If you cannot recall anything new that you learned from the conversation, then you probably talked too much.
3. Analyze your ratio of talking to listening. You should never dominate a conversation more than 75 percent of the time, with the goal being closer to 50 percent. If you are doing the vast majority of the talking during a conversation, then you are talking too much.
4. Pay attention to body language. Do people frequently break eye contact, cross their arms and gradually move away from you when you are talking? If so, then you are likely talking too much.
5. Think about how a conversation typically ends. Do people frequently interrupt you to tell you that they have to leave? If so, you might be talking too much.
What to Do if You Do
6. Recognize that you talk too much. You cannot fix a problem until you acknowledge that a problem exists.
7. Resolve to change. Decide that you are going to stop dominating conversations. Being aware of the problem and willing to fix it is half the battle.
8. Ask questions. When you have a conversation with another person, ask the person questions that are of interest to him.
9. Listen to the answers. Choose to focus on what the other person is saying instead of thinking about what you want to say next.
10. Pay attention to body language. The other person will tell you through her body language whether or not she is interested in what you are saying.
11. Pause during conversations before continuing with what you plan to say. This gives the other person the opportunity to respond or move the conversation in another direction.
12. Make an emotional connection. The key to any good conversation is connecting on an emotional level. Once you achieve an emotional connection, it becomes much easier to know when to talk and when to listen.
