How do you respond when someone interrupts you in conversation?
By The Horse
@TheHorse (218548)
Walnut Creek, California
March 8, 2017 3:49pm CST
I was listening to sports talk radio this morning, of all things, when I noticed that one of the hosts was constantly interrupting his guest, a sports reporter who was being interviewed. It was as if the host was trying to assert his power by not letting the person being interviewed speak. I changed the station.
In real life, one of my pet peeves is interrupting. I tend to speak quietly but clearly. If someone interrupts me, I notice it. It wasn't until I started teaching assertiveness in my Intro to Psychology class that I realized I was NON-assertive around interrupters. I used to let people talk over me and then try again.
Now, I simply say, "Excuse me--I want to finish my point," or something similar, when I'm interrupted, and I usually get to finish my thought without offending anybody. How do you respond when someone interrupts you? Does it bother you as much as it does me?
30 people like this
34 responses
@MALUSE (69373)
• Germany
8 Mar 17
Yes, it does bother me and I also ask to be allowed to finish what I want to say. But I also interrupt. That's a bad habit, I know. But I get impatient when people talk too slowly and in a long-winded way and I already know half-way through a sentence how it will end. Unfortunately, I now live among a tribe in the south of Germany where most people talk in this way.
5 people like this
@MALUSE (69373)
• Germany
8 Mar 17
@TheHorse They talk slowly. That doesn't mean they're challenged in any way. On the contrary. This is a region where many world-famous inventions have been made.
I've been living here for more than 40 years but I'll suffer until my last day when a local opens his or her mouth and talks in the regional dialect. Even well-educated people do that. It pulls off my shoes!
I speak standard German. I can't speak anything else. But because of this, I'm sometimes considered arrogant.
3 people like this
@TheHorse (218548)
• Walnut Creek, California
8 Mar 17
@MALUSE I wonder if, as an American who doesn't speak German, I would pick up on the differences in speech across regions there. Here in California (as in New York, but with a different accent) people tend to talk fast. Up in Montana, where I spend part of my Summers, people speak more slowly.
1 person likes this
@celticeagle (166761)
• Boise, Idaho
8 Mar 17
This really bothers me. I see it on shows like MSNBC Live and such. Discussions. Many don't do this but some do. I can see getting excited about the subject matter but, it is a form of disrespect. That is how I feel when it happens to me. That they don't have enough respect for me to let me finish.
3 people like this
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104628)
• United States
9 Mar 17
@celticeagle I change the channel or walk out of the room when that happens. Someone who doesn't want another to finish their thoughts isn't someone I want to listen to!
2 people like this
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104628)
• United States
8 Mar 17
Political reporters are the worst to talk over people. I hate that.
3 people like this
@teamfreak16 (43418)
• Denver, Colorado
9 Mar 17
My girlfriend does this to me all the time, but so do others. I try twice and then give up.
3 people like this
@TheHorse (218548)
• Walnut Creek, California
10 Mar 17
@teamfreak16 At least you get to practice your listening skills.
1 person likes this
@teamfreak16 (43418)
• Denver, Colorado
10 Mar 17
@TheHorse - Pretty much. I just pretty much give up.
1 person likes this
@TheHorse (218548)
• Walnut Creek, California
10 Mar 17
It was interesting how Hillary handled one of (and probably more of) The Donald's interruptions during the Presidential Berates...I mean Debates. She just kept on talking as if he wasn't talking over her. I thought it was a good move.
1 person likes this
@FayeHazel (40243)
• United States
9 Mar 17
Yes totally! Usually what I have to say is well thought through and I too am quiet -- and normally I don't say anything when interrupted - or if it happens over and over and over and over as it tends to - then sometimes I snap. I like "Excuse me, I want to finish my point" a better way to handle it though. Thank you
2 people like this
@TheHorse (218548)
• Walnut Creek, California
5 Oct 17
@FayeHazel Heh. I just had t do it. It was driving me nuts.
1 person likes this
@amitkokiladitya (171927)
• Agra, India
9 Mar 17
I try to ignore at first but if necessary I ask the person to let me finish
2 people like this
@TheHorse (218548)
• Walnut Creek, California
5 Oct 17
@amitkokiladitya It actually works sometimes.
@workathomefan (8957)
• Prairieville, Louisiana
9 Mar 17
Cute grandkids at the table.
2 people like this
@TheHorse (218548)
• Walnut Creek, California
10 Mar 17
Oh, those aren't my biological kids or grandkids. The boy is sort of my "pretend son." His mom came here from Eastern Europe and his dad is out of the picture. So I take him cycling, play soccer with him, etc. The little girl is a neighbor too. This is them coloring on my balcony a couple of years ago. Note how shes kind of being "the boss." That's what made me use the picture.
@workathomefan (8957)
• Prairieville, Louisiana
9 Mar 17
Interrupting people is rude but I have done it myself.
2 people like this
@Montecristodog (787)
• United States
8 Mar 17
Sometimes. I,just, try to be patient and look for an opening to talk. I guess I am too easy going.
2 people like this
@TheHorse (218548)
• Walnut Creek, California
20 Mar 17
@Montecristodog Sigh. Ive had to many times in my day. I think my friend that I taught about Orion and Scorpio (they're opposite each other in the night sky--one is a Winter constellation and the other a Summer constellation) still thinks they're right next to each other.
@Montecristodog (787)
• United States
9 Mar 17
@TheHorse Well, that is different. I would have to,gently, interrupt and make my point. If the person wants to argue, I just walk away. You cannot argue with ignorance.
1 person likes this
@vandana7 (100254)
• India
4 Oct 17
It has to do with panic and lack of memory, and lack of practicing. I suppose. So if a conversation is on...point one ..kept in mind, point two taken, point three, oh where did the point one go...forgotten..sigh. So when that kind of thing starts happening, people do interfere or let their points get across. I find this more in the case of advocates, while people from medical profession are more likely to listen. Listening to you does not mean they are attentive to you. lol. I for one often find me doing that ..and am embarrassed. Not because of memory or anything. I have a tendency to become silent. That would be interpreted as inattentive by the other person. I have been blamed of that quite a lot.
1 person likes this
@vandana7 (100254)
• India
5 Oct 17
@TheHorse The difference is, I am inattentive..lol.
Take for instance my advocate...he starts with you are a genius, you have good command over English, what is your qualification. I like your honest, blah blah blah..I am so afraid that when he brings up the right questions, my brain would be elsewhere. So I butt in and tell him, I want to be honest because I don't want to lose the case. Then the guy goes on to tell me his experience, and that he has 2 flats and a car and a two wheeler and his wife is a good cook..I did not hear anything after that..whatever he was saying...I was mylotting. lol May be I am arrogant. But the point is, when starts with lies, he is wasting my time. I sent him a mail saying I don't trust people who praise me. But he still does it everyday as if it is some butter to be applied to the toast. Many people do it out here. That is why dad gets trapped.
1 person likes this
@TheHorse (218548)
• Walnut Creek, California
5 Oct 17
I used to be accused of not listening because I sometimes looked off into space, rather than at the person, when they were speaking. But then I'd come back with a response that showed I'd heard everything the speaker had said. It almost surprised them, they told me.
1 person likes this
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104628)
• United States
8 Mar 17
Oh, I hate the type that interrupt others! I am non-assertive myself. It's just the way I was taught. However, if I feel passionately enough, I will talk over the person trying to talk over me.
I think it's rude and childish to interrupt people. To me it just shows you that the person interrupting doesn't liket he point you are trying to make. Doesn't want to hear your opinion, even.
2 people like this
@AbbyGreenhill (45494)
• United States
9 Mar 17
It depends on my mood - if I'm in a bad mood I tell the person off, especially if it is my husband!
1 person likes this
@AbbyGreenhill (45494)
• United States
11 Mar 17
@TheHorse She he is my only source for conversations, he get a lot of flack from me.
1 person likes this
@Kandae11 (54986)
•
9 Mar 17
I don't know if you are aware of this phrase "not cutting you" - In my side of the world, when someone is interrupting another person in the midst of dialogue - that is what they would say. I find it annoying because they are doing just that -- cutting in on your speech, why not simply say - excuse me.
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.2 people like this
