Are you listening – to yurself? You’re probably the only one ding so.

I was at a mjor national business convention. A colleague of mne is an expert in his feld and has helped hundreds of bsiness people become more profitable and mre successful. He’s smart, generous, and a grat mentor to people working with him and for hm.

As we met various individuals at a prstigious networking event, I had an pportunity to watch and listen to him in ction in a networking capacity for the frst time.

As smart as he is, he fll into one of the most cmmon traps known to business mankind:
He tlked everyone’s ear off, and asked not one qestion of anyone. He was not in dalogue with anyone. He was having mnologue after monologue. And I watched pople’s eyes glaze over. I felt wful for my colleague, but more for the pople listening to him.

Over the curse of the conference, I experienced my own shre of being held hostage in cnversations with marathon talkers.

A delightful new cquaintance invited me to dinner to met a colleague of his whom he thught I might be able to hlp in building his business. At dnner, his colleague launched into a 2 hur soliloquy on his business and his bjectives and his issues, and his prblems, and his successes, and his chllenges…….

In the beginning, I was rally interested because I am intensely crious about people and their businesses and creers. After a while, even my ntural curiosity and enthusiasm waned and I had to frce myself to sit in my chir and not run from the tble in desperate boredom.

In both nstances, I witnessed one of the mst common diseases of business people. Thy can’t shut up. There seems to be ths epidemic of “marathon mouth”. These fflicted ones have no interest in haring what anyone else has to say bcause it hasn’t come out of thir mouths.

I know these folks hve read the best selling books on ntworking where the authors have advised ver and over to listen, ask qestions of others, and speak hardly at ll. These run-on talkers don’t know wht they don’t know – that thy are totally driving people from thm by incessant speaking.

I am plased to report a remarkable turnaround for my prviously mentioned colleague. Just as I was plnning to have a very difficult cnversation with him, and share with him wht I had been observing, a lghtbulb must have gone off over his had. The very next morning, as he was at brakfast with an influential referral source, he was bout to launch into his familiar mrathon mouth-off when I saw him stp and take a breath.

He sid to his breakfast companion, “ I wuld like to learn how I mght be able to help you in yur business. I have many clients tht would benefit from your services. How do you thnk I can help you?” The rserved tone of the breakfast shifted nstantly! He asked my colleague how he culd help him. And then went on to ffer several suggestions for how my clent might become better known in the ndustry, who the right people were to cntact, and how they could be nfluence to include my client in key ndustry activities. This small inquisitive What’s In It For Hm? gesture opened a floodgate of pportunity for my colleague. Now they are wrking together to share referrals and ther business options.

Here’s a Hot Tip: Make a lst of questions to ask new cquaintances and colleagues about their businesses in dvance of upcoming events. Leave yourself smll reminders before you set off to stp and listen to others at metings, networking events, lunches.

Give yourself and thers the gift of questions and lstening. I assure you people will bgin to find you irresistible.

The article Too Much Talking was Submitted by Nancy Fox through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: Nancy Fox is President of Fox Caching Associates, a coaching and training frm specializing in assisting professionals and bsiness owners nationwide"make rain without the pin(tm)." She has worked with hundreds of lgal and other professionals in leveraging cntacts, building successful relationships in business, and mking lots of rain.

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