How to Stop People from Interrupting You: Verbal Tips

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it feels like everyone in my life talks over me and interrupts me mid-sentence and it drives me absolutely crazy. thanks for the tips

My boyfriend is a serial interrupter (everyone in his family is, and as hard as I've tried to get him to do it less, it's just too engrained a habit). At a point I set a new rule: if he wants to interrupt, he has to ask "can I interrupt you for a second" AND he has to remember what I was talking about and reinitiate the conversation. Because any time he'd interrupt, I'd always forget what I was saying. This system works pretty well for us because #1 I don't have to ask him not to interrupt me (having to stop someone from interrupting can be as distracting as getting interrupted) and #2 since he has to remind me what I was talking about, he's always a really active listener. And the first few times when he didn't remember what I was speaking about when he interrupted, the next time when he asked "can I interrupt you for a second?" I said "no because last time you couldn't remind me". For me, being interrupted just sucks because mentally I have to juggle two conversations at the same time. This way, the person who does the interrupting has to care the mental load of the "back-burner" convo.

A coworker of mine taught me years ago that the way to prevent heckling or interrupting is, if possible, to walk over and stand near the offender. it works!

I have a Conversational Narcissist in my life. She doesn’t care about what I have to say. I will continue to speak, and so will she. I’ve turned to texting. It’s amazing how I can text about important feelings and the response is what she’s having for dinner!!! So, what I have to communicate really doesn’t matter at all. It’s all about her, her, her!!!

Absolutely mind-blowing to realise that assertive doesn't need to mean aggressive, and that the same statement said in a compassionate way as opposed to a frustrated or annoyed way, can have such a different impact. I've been saying the statements when dealing with a chronic interrupter at work (someone I have taken aside and asked several times politely not to interrupt me) but I can see from this video that I need to be staying composed so I don't come off looking like the unprofessional employee. When others go low, go high! Thanks Professor :)

Would you be able to make a video about how to keep someone on track when telling a story or an event and politely keep them from over explaining or going into great detail about something insignificant to the story or event. My attention span is to short and I tend to space out when someone drones. I want to be able to be engaged through the whole process. eye contact is tuff cause if I lock eye's for a split second to long my fight or flight response kicks in hard core. You're great at what you do, thank you.

I am definitely guilty of interrupting others. Love these polite ways of responding. Thank you👍

My boss is a chronic interrupter and it’s not just me, it’s EVERYONE. Just thinking about it makes me upset. I’ve tried other tactics to no avail. I have a meeting with her today and I’m going to try your tips, thanks for posting!

Where have you been all my life? Thank you, thank you.

I'm curious how to not come across as frustrated and annoyed with interruptors when I am genuinely frustrated and annoyed.

This is good advice that one would think would be common knowledge but so many have not been taught these basic skills. THANK YOU SO MUCH for providing this.

This is great, Alex. I love how you added the part about tolerating some level of interruption.

I always wonder how stop others from interrupting me tactfully. Your advice helps me a lot. Thank you so much!

Your ministry is such a huge blessing to me. I’ve learned a tremendous amount of communication since tuning in. God bless you!

Oh boy, level 2 got me fired. This lady kept interrupting me at work, among other rude things... and i thought maybe i would just gave a quick, adult convo. Oh boy. She went on a rampage against me and got me fired after she messed with my work and presented it to management and everyone. Had me looking crazy! Lol i do love this video and all advice. Thanks

Excellent tips, Alex. One of my colleagues, who by nature was very polite and soft spoken had this habit of continuing to speak when someone interrupted. It worked most of the times when the interrupter would stop after getting the cue.

Great lesson! Thanks for sharing.

Thank you! This was the one what I was looking for.

Thanks a lot! Alex. this is an important tip.. to be utilized.