Can you listen attentively, or do you hurry and even interrupt conversations with others? Has the pressure to stay on schedule at work compromised your ability to listen?
Enhancing professional and personal effectiveness includes attentive listening. Being in a hurry to “get to the point” leads to misunderstanding the message, resentment from others, and reinforcement of anxiety due to feeling pressured.
By rushing the conversation, you are creating a distraction that will limit your ability to take in what’s being said; your priority becomes haste rather than gathering information and meaningful interaction.
Do you finish other peoples’ sentences?
Finishing the sentences of others is a form of interruption that rushes the communication. When you finish others’ sentences, you send the message that they need to hurry, causing them to feel pressured. Finishing their sentences can also result in their feeling invalidated; people like to be heard and to express their ideas in their own words.
Remember that anxiety stems from how you perceive your situation. If you act as if you’re in a hurry by interrupting others, you are reinforcing a sense of urgency that will increase your anxiety.
If you are in the habit of rushing through conversations, it’s likely that you aren’t effectively processing the information that you’re receiving. Also, as others take your lead and feel the need to rush through their end of the conversation, they will be editing out details that could be important.
Sometimes there’s a legitimate urgent matter that requires concise communication, but there’s a difference between concise vs rushed communication.
If you regularly hurry through conversations, and would like to break the habit, here are four tips that will help:
✔ Ask yourself if this particular conversation requires speed. If not, make it a point to slow down.
️ ✔ Practice visualizing calm and patience during future conversations. visualization is a powerful, but underutilized tool.
✔ When you want to interrupt, take a deep breath instead.
✔ To help you refocus on your partner’s communication, repeat what they are saying in your mind until you’re back on track.
You can enhance your effectiveness and help calm yourself by slowing down your conversations.
The very best to you.