Every minute you keep talking
after people stop listening
is a minute of trying their patience,
wearing out your welcome
And lessening the respect they have for you.

So why do you do it? And for that matter, why does someone like me continue to do it, when I know better?

People who talk longer than they should are usually (emotionally) shy, often painfully so. When they talk they go through three stages.

Stage 1 – Is about addressing an issue, exchanging information, and staying on topic

Stage 2 – Is about starting to come out of yourself, feeling relief from being emotionally introverted, and wanting to keep on going. Staying on topic or relevant takes a backseat to just how good it feels to be speaking (as opposed to being inhibited, buttoned up and buttoned down too much of the time).

Stage 3 – Is about starting to be aware that you have overstayed your welcome and feeling embarrassed.However rather than having the good sense to cut your losses and bring it to a close, you keep going on and on hoping to re-engage people, but this only adds more nails to the coffin.

And with that, I think I’ll stop now.

If however you do want to hear more, check out my blog at Huffington Post.