One Meeting Minute Thought for Your Week
It may not seem natural, but your best first step to deal with a rambler in your meeting is to empathize with them.
Because, despite being annoying and disruptive, the person using too many words is still exactly that – a real person.
And, they need you to help them as much as you need them to use fewer words to communicate during your meeting.
Time is precious and off-topic conversations and dominating speakers are at the top of the list of biggest meeting challenges.
So, you have to stop their rambling.
But before you follow your trigger response to shut them down abruptly, take a deep breath, pause, and empathize.
Consider these 6 reasons a person might be talking too much during your meeting.
6 considerations to help you empathize with a rambler in your meeting
We can never know all that’s going on in a person’s life.
So to have a kinder, more compassionate mindset when interrupting a coworker, consider these 6 factors that might be influencing their behavior.
Insecurity
Your teammate might feel intimidated and lack confidence during meetings so they respond with too many words.
For instance, they may not know the answer to a question you asked them.
To help prevent a long-winded answer driven by insecurity empathize before asking a question.
You might be able rephrase your inquiry to put them at ease and help them realize “I don’t know, but I’ll get back with you.” is an acceptable answer.
Trust
The rambler may be opening up, albeit a bit too much, because they trust you to listen.
Other leaders may have previously squelched their input and the freedom to add comments in a meeting is new to them.
As you empathize and consider their perspective, you may realize their rambling is a compliment in disguise.
Passion
An abundance of words from a meeting participant may be a reflection of their passion for a topic.
You want energetic, committed teammates who will fight for their views in your meetings.
Empathize and consider their willingness to share their perspective a positive behavior before you rush to shut them up.
Compensation
Some people ramble to fill the awkward silence when no one else will speak up.
Is this person really dominating the conversation or does it just seem like it because no one else is contributing?
As you empathize you may realize you’re focusing on the wrong person.
The person talking too much may not be the one who most needs to improve.
Think about how you can get others involved and take the pressure off the rambler.
Inexperience
A person who is using too many words to communicate their point may simply need practice to express themselves clearly and concisely.
It should be easy to empathize because almost everyone can improve in this area.
More Resources to Help You Build Your Career and Your Business
If you’re not convinced you need to empathize and stop ramblers during your meetings, check out this data (click here).
Working with SurveyMonkey, Clockwise asked 757 workers in the United States to share their perspectives about meetings.
The two biggest meeting challenges could easily fit in the “rambling”category!
These resources also give more details on how to politely interrupt someone in a meeting.
✅ How To Stop Someone From Rambling So They Can Be Heard (Blog post)
✅ How To Protect Your Meeting From A Rambler (Podcast)
And, take a look at Issue 14 of M4 – the Monday Morning Meeting Minute:
✅ How To Politely Interrupt Someone In A Meeting (click here).
And Now a Word from Our Sponsors
Sometimes rambling in a meeting can actually be caused by not clearly understanding how the people in your meetings are wired.
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That’s All for this Issue
When you need to stop a coworker from rambling during your meeting, empathize and consider these factors that may be driving their behavior :
- Insecurity
- Loneliness
- Trust
- Passion
- Compensation
- Inexperience
Your empathy and compassion will positively influence your action and their response.
And create a more productive, effective meeting.
Let’s lead with kindness and confidence!
Greg
Here are 3 ways I can help you when you’re ready:
- Get more free resources you can use today (Click here to Start)
- Improve on your own with digital courses (Click here to Improve)
- Accelerate your progress with coaching (Click here to Accelerate)
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