If you watched the presidential debate, you would have experienced a lack of self-awareness, emotional intelligence, and been extremely frustrated with not being able to listen to a healthy discussion. In this episode, I share why it happens and what you can do about it.
Why do people interrupt others during conversations and how can you become aware so you stop doing it?
I can become frustrated during conversations if I can’t hear what’s being said by each individual even though I’ve personally developed when it comes to interrupting other people. I still have the habit of interrupting people during conversation, so I appreciate someone bringing it to my awareness when I’m doing it.
If we’re honest, we can all get better at not interrupting one another.
When it comes to your business, working with your team, and your relationships, you can improve your conversations by not interrupting.
A lot of people question leadership when someone is not able to listen.
Look at why it happens, and what you can do about it, because interrupting others comes from a lack of self-awareness and emotional intelligence.
Take Interest
When you’re having a discussion and interested in hearing what the other person has to say you’re genuinely curious.
A reason you might interrupt a conversation is because you’re hearing what is being said and you want to bring up something important to you. This is done with good intent because you’re excited, you want to participate and interrupt the conversation to get your point across so you can feel good about what is being spoken about.
Raise Awareness
If you get interrupted it’s ok to consciously ask someone not to interrupt you because in most situations, the person isn’t aware of what they are doing.
It’s very important where your energy comes from – if you ask with frustration it’s likely the response you receive will mirror your irritation.
When someone interrupts you, speak consciously, and calmly ask if they will let you finish. By raising their awareness you’re encouraging it not to happen again, but when someone doesn’t listen to your request and they continue to interrupt you, you can go into silence.
When there isn’t a strong enough consequence from non-interruption it will continue throughout the conversation, so if you’re not being heard the presence of your silence will create the space for the other person to realize there’s no point in you speaking.
When you have self-awareness you hear when people feel frustrated by the interruption.
It’s hard to take people seriously and receive the words spoken when you’re interrupting people – you take them off track from what they want to say and you’re left with unhealthy energy.
In some cases, interruption is an important thing. I consciously interrupt people during coaching calls to break language patterns. If I don’t bring awareness to a pattern, it could stop that person’s development in moving forward.
Understand there are different cases in which interruption is important and there are many cases when you actually shouldn’t interrupt because you also gain respect by listening.
Actively Listen
Being conscious with somebody, really hearing what they say have to say and receiving their words, means you’re actively listening.
When you’re not actively listening, you’re not actively present, the words spoken don’t register and you can’t properly reply or take an active role in the conversation.
When you actively listen to somebody, you are present with them and they’re going to feel heard – a lot of people don’t feel they are heard.
This is about true connection and true depth of connection.
If you think someone is listening to you, but they’re not being present with you and they’re not actively listening, your words won’t go in so they won’t be received or understood.
You may encounter this a lot in relationships when you get into a place where we’re not connecting with your partner or employees.