How to Deal With a Motormouth

There's one in every crowd, a guy or gal who just won't stop jabbering on at a pace approaching the speed of light. They spit out a veritable barrage of words with laser-like intensity. Chances are you'll have to deal with someone like this on a few occasions, either to get a word in edgewise, to give others a chance to air their opinions or just to get a little peace and quiet.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

1. Be assertive. A motormouth will latch on to someone who seems like they will not interject. Being assertive when meeting someone helps to ensure they will not monopolize the entire conversation. After all, conversation is a two-way street. Instead of a simple greeting, give your name and some details about yourself, and keep the ball rolling from the start.
2. Appeal to social protocols and a sense of reason. Be bold enough to interrupt a monologue (if someone goes over a minute or so, it's a pretty good bet they're monopolizing, in fact 30 seconds is long). Test the person you're talking to in order to see if they are responsive to verbal cues.
3. For overtalkers, try a good-natured "Whoah, Whoah. let me see if I got this right." Even a motormouth should stop briefly to address your confusion.
4. Give the motormouth cues in body language. Sit down with the individual. Assuming a different posture sometimes helps a motormouth to adjust. In extreme cases, you may have to wave a hand in front of them to get them to stop talking.
5. Consider walking away. Do you need to talk to this person? Is this a necessary business/social transaction? If not, you might want to just let it go.

Tips & Warnings

• Some motormouth activity is the result of substance abuse. It helps to know the symptoms of narcotic abuse to see whether a person is just socially awkward or actually under the influence of narcotics.