Ten Ways to Tell If You Talk Too Much

It's one thing to be sociable and chatty; it's another thing to monopolize conversations over and over. Talking too much can ruin relationships. After a while, too much talking can leave you talking to only one person willing to listen to you: yourself. Here are ten ways to tell if you suffer from this problem (and everyone who has to be on the listening end):

1. People tell you that you talk too much. This is really a bad sign. People hardly ever tell someone that he or she talks too much. So if someone does tell you, be assured: you do talk a lot. Way too much. If someone tells you, you should be pretty embarrassed because your talking is on an extreme level.

2. You love to hear yourself talk. When you're in a conversation, the best part is when you get to speak. In fact, you can't wait until the other person stops speaking, so you can start. You often find yourself not listening to what the other person says because you're thinking about what you're going to say.

3. Body language can provide a definite clue that you talk too much, When you 're in the middle of yapping, people start turning their side to you, as if they are ready or impatient to leave. That's an indication that they are indeed ready or impatient to leave. You start to lose eye contact with people. You find that they look anywhere but at you. They're trying to tell you something without actually saying it: you talk too much and they can't take it. Naturally, yawning in your face is a symptom of conversation overload. And the worst part is that you still don't get it.

4. People make certain sounds when you open your mouth. They start sighing, taking deep breaths or violent coughing.

5. You notice people crossing the street when you approach them and get the feeling they're pretending not to see you. Guess what? They are.

6. When you do have a captive audience, you get cut off in the middle of a sentence. People tell you they need to go to the bathroom badly; they're in labor; their dog is being euthanized, etc.

7. You find yourself spending long periods of time on the phone when you don't hear a reaction, such as "uh-huh," or "yeah," etc. Average people need that kind of reinforcement to continue talking. Those affirmations on the other end tell them that the person listening is interested in what they have to say. But you don't need that. You don't need any reaction on the other end to keep on talking. As long as there isn't a dial tone, you're good.

8. The other person on the end of the phone is always the one to end the conversation. And when the conversation ends, you feel shortchanged, deprived. It's never enough-for you.

9. When you're on the phone, there are times when you hear absolutely nothing. There are a number of reasons for this: the person is asleep and doesn't snore; the person has put the phone is a box and is standing back from the phone, wondering how long you will go on without any response; the person has gone to the bathroom, out to the bank or to watch a TV show that you were interrupting. And the amazing thing is that when they come back 30 or 40 minutes later, you are still talking.

10. When starting a phone conversation, you ask (rarely) if this is bad time to talk, people snap back an emphatic yes. But that doesn't stop you. "Just let me tell you this and then I'll let you go." Ever hear yourself say that? That means you talk too much. And people aren't going to take it anymore.

In respectable memory to my mother who could not shut up...until now.