I will admit I am not as good at listening as I want to be. My wife says, and she is right, that I always feel like someone has to be talking, so if there is silence I try to fill it. Who doesn’t want to be heard? I have a great friend who pauses while talking, as if he puts a period in his sentence. Just as you start to talk he taps you on the arm and continues talking over you. Needless to say, a few people stopped riding in the car pool.
Truth is, my wife doesn’t want answers, she just wants me to care. No one likes the guy in the meeting that always has something to say. We all admire the person that speaks when they have something to say, something we want to hear, something worth saying. However, we love the person that cares more about what we have to say than what they have to say. So next time you start to speak, don’t.