listening to speech
November 24, 2004
Lately, I’ve been focussing on my own speech. I’ve been listening to what sort of things I say and what kinds of words I use. I’ve come to a fair conclusion: I talk about myself too much.
I know I don’t mean to do so but I have a nasty tendency to drag some sort of anecdote about myself into the conversation. The conversation will make a sharp turn because of my vocal driving. Perhaps the people I’ve been talking to have been getting pissed that I’m hijacking their message vehicles and taking them for a personal joyride.
I’m pretty sure I do this because I think I have something interesting to add and that I want the other person to pick something up without having to go through what I had to go through to learn the lesson. It’s also probably true that I think my stories are just more interesting than what’s being said. I’m sure the ones that know me well also know this little vice of mine and will forgive me for it. Nonetheless, I think it’ll be for my own benefit to try to change this habit. I’ve been trying to just listen more and not inject anything but it’s so damn hard to keep my big mouth shut. I think people will be able to trust me more.
Don’t point out the hypocrisy of me speaking about how I speak too much about myself on my webpage. It is MY webpage. In fact, I’m trying to do most of the Me talk here and leave room for the You talk in real conversations.
In listening to my own speech, I’ve also listened to people around me as well. It’s interesting how personalities really show when words are looked at. The woman uses “but” and “can’t” more often than I’d like her to. I’m trying hard to use more, “and” and “why not” to balance this. I have a self-confidence surplus while she may be in need of a bit more.
Some people sure love complaining – they’ll complain about anything even when things are generally looking quite positive. I like hearing some of their rants but it sure gets boring when that’s all they ever talk about. Some people speak about the most superficial topics… sadly, these people don’t hang around long in my life as I need more depth to relationships. Some people use too much sarcasm – it may be fun for a while but it just gets annoying when you approach them something serious and they reply with yet more sarcasm.
