6.2 Over-talkers

The challenge

What’s really going on

• Some people have an inflated sense of their own importance.
• Some people simply love to hear themselves talk.
• Dysfunctional talkers are often oblivious to what others need to hear.
• Over-talking may be a ploy to get attention or to gain control.
• Some people are simply insensitive to the needs or behaviours of others.

Facilitator pitfalls

• Not checking with the rest of the group to determine what they need to hear.
• Failing to establish guidelines for presentations.
• Standing by and allowing over-talkers to continue past pre-set time limits.
• Using overly harsh or judgemental language when intervening.
• Coming across as unsure when asking over-talkers to curtail their comments.

Intervention strategies

• Help the group set clear time limits for each presentation.
• Appoint one of the group members to act as timekeeper and periodically call out milestones.
• Help the group establish guidelines for each presentation:

  ‘Before the presentations begin, let’s talk about the level of detail people need and some of the specific questions you want to have answered.’

• Ask the group to establish a targeted norm/ground rule at the start of any meeting where you suspect over-talking might occur:

  ‘We’ve got a really tight agenda today. What commitments do we each need to make to honour our time-frames?’

• Help over-talkers correct themselves by offering them specific feedback:

  ‘You’ve been giving us a lot of implementation details rather than offering an overview of project goals. Please refocus your presentation to be in line with the guidelines we set earlier.’

• If the over-talker shows no sign of self-control, stop him or her and check with the rest of the group:

  ‘I’m going to stop you and check with the rest of the group to make sure this is the right time to hear more of your report.’

• Firmly point out that the group members are violating their time limits, and clearly state what you want them to do:

  ‘You’re now five minutes over your allotted time. I'm concerned others won’t get a chance to present. Please wrap up.’

• If none of the above interventions has an impact, take over-talkers aside and give them feedback in a way that encourages them to take responsibility for their actions in future meetings:

  ‘At today’s meeting, you ran over by 20 minutes, even though I asked you to end your presentation twice. This threw the meeting seriously off schedule. I need a commitment from you to ensure that this doesn’t happen in the future.’