Comment by gregwebs

I grew up with the interrupting style, but when I realized some people get very offended by it, I decided to switch to waiting. Now that I am on the receiving end of interruptions, I notice the main problem with interrupting- that the interrupters often think they know what is going to be said, but are wrong. This is inefficient and not a proper exchange of ideas (which requires thinking about what was said), which can easily feel demoralizing. I find that waiting is actually a lot more efficient than interrupting if everyone can talk succinctly and avoid useless tangents (which isn’t easy to do). You do have to lead by example here and often have to step back and moderate the conversation that way.

It’s mind opening to see some of these articles advocating for the interrupting style. I see how it can work well, and I will try to adapt to that style some more in some circumstances. And in particular try to develop more signaling abilities. However, in my experience interrupting is useful just when someone is not succinct- otherwise it’s too easy for interrupters to do a poor job listening and actually facilitate a good conversation.