Etiquette Q&A: What if a Guest Talks Too Much?
Alice Kaushal, Speakers Connect
Question:
My husband has invited his colleagues for an informal get together. They are a pleasant lot and I get along with them quite well. But there’s this person, who incidentally is also my husband’s immediate senior, who just can’t stop talking. She almost always monopolises our conversations. How do I deal with her without being rude?
Suggestions: Your husbands’ talkative senior is your guest and it is important that she is made to feel welcome. However, it is just as important that you and your other guests are able to have conversations that are not monopolised or dominated by the talkative senior. An easy tactic to stop her dominating conversation is to keep bringing your other guests into the conversation by asking their opinions on the topic.
For example - ”that’s very interesting, (turning to another guest) but what do you think?”
Another commonly used tactic for dealing with people, who habitually interrupt others as they are speaking, is to turn to the person who was interrupted and say “Let’s get back to what you were saying…”
Employing these tactics is a way of getting the message across without causing offence.
By Alice Kaushal, etiquette expert at www.speakersconnect.com
October 21, 2009
Tags: Alice Kaushal, business social etiquette hong kong, speaker bureau asia, speaker bureau hong kong, Speakers Connect Posted in: Business Etiquette