Chapter 3

1. Robert Wayman
Chapter 3 Listen to Your Customer (a Big “Little Thing”):
Action Tip 6: Bite Your Tongue before Interrupting.
Why is it important not to interrupt someone while they are speaking? You may interrupt someone
while they are talking can be attributed to a number of things such as, thinking ahead of what the other
person is talking about, or you want to stop the other person from repeating a story you may have
already heard, or just because the normal person talks at about 120- wpm but can hear about 500-wpm
and your brain is just going faster than the speaker. But by interrupting the other person you will not get
the whole conversation and may miss part of the important information the speaker has to offer.
True you may need to gain clarification of some points but wait for an appropriate time to ask for that
clarification rather than interrupting. If you hold back and wait for the speaker to finish or get to a point
that requires a question then you will not seem rude. When the appropriate time arrives you can ask
“will you clarifiy that point” or “what do you mean?” Some people may not be able to efficiently
communicate their position they may not know the terminology or exactly know how to describe the
problem. Be sure to give them ample opportunity to express themselves fully before asking questions or
disagreeing with them.
So if you bite your tongue and don’t interrupt others you can find out what the speaker has to say and
will be a better listener. By becoming a better listener you can also become a better communicator
because you will be more informed on what has been said.
Also literally, you need to keep your mouth closed. If your mouth is not open you can’t interrupt
people. So make a conscious effort to, physically, keep your mouth shut. And ask yourself, while the
other person is talking, is my mouth closed.