I’m sure you know them—

those people who “pounce”

on you while you’re talking.

Here’s how it works:

the moment you’re done speaking

(or even the moment you pause),

they “pounce” in with whatever

it is they want to say (or ask), often unrelated

to the topic you were just addressing.

They don’t quite interrupt,

so they might imagine it’s okay.

However, in surveying tens of thousands

of audience members during my 20+ years

teaching listening skills through keynotes and workshops,

people consistently report experiencing

being pounced upon as worse than being interrupted.

The reason: it immediately indicates

that the person wasn’t at all paying attention

to what you were saying.

Interrupters most often stay

on the same topic; they just cut you off.

In debrief sessions, words used to describe

the feeling of being “pounced upon” include:

rude, disorienting, jarring, disrespectful.

This 1-minute excerpt from a keynote

I delivered to leaders in the hospitality industry

shows how pouncing occurs in a variety of settings,

—even in a remote team meeting.

The issue is this: pouncing, like interrupting,

erodes trust and damages those key relationships

you so want (and need) to build.

There are ways to solve it,

but that’s for another post.

For now, regardless of your role

at work or in life, be mindful of your behavior.

Risk Forward & Listen Up,

P.S. Often after a keynote or workshop, audience members will approach me, chuckling at themselves and confessing, “I’m such a pouncer!” More often than not, though, they say, “My boss is SUCH a pouncer. I wish they’d been here today.” Is that YOU? Please forward this post 🙂