Have you ever been in a conversation with a person who is constantly interrupting you? It is just so frustrating and annoying. This is actually a bullying technique which disturbs the train of thought of the person speaking something. Hence, if it is an argument, you will constantly forget what you want to say and thereby lose. So here’s what you can do about it:
Be gentle at first:
If you know you are going to face such a person, prepare yourself and be gentle at first. “Going into the conversation, find a neutral place to talk, speak for short bursts rather than monopolizing the conversation and avoid an aggressive tone of voice,” said Diane Gottsman, an etiquette expert and owner of The Protocol School of Texas. “Be open to listening to their point of view and watch your body language so you don’t send the message that you are closed to hearing their message.”
Recognize their pattern:
Some people interrupt you on the same topic every time. So try and recognize their pattern and don’t talk about that particular topic at all. They interrupt you because either they are too excited about the topic you are talking about or they know a lot about and want to keep their views, hence the best solution is to refrain from speaking on that topic.
What to do if nothing mentioned above works?:
Two things that you can do to distract such a person is using body language and humor. “Instead, if you can’t get the other person’s attention any other way, put your hand up and palm out with fingers showing the number five,” Gottsman said. “Then calmly say, ‘Let me finish.’ Pause, look at them, and if they continue to speak, look away. Sometimes you just need to disengage until they’ve stopped talking.” This way you are keeping your views by not being rude or mean to another person. Humor is another way, don’t get upset or irritated if you are being interrupted, just diffuse the situation with a smile or a laugh and let that slide past.
