Woman Interrupted

By Colleen Walsh Fong

Have you been frustrated by frequent interruptions when you communicate? Does it make you feel like your comments don’t count? Don’t worry. It’s not you. It’s us. Our culture. But you can work this annoying trend to your advantage with 3 simple communication techniques.

We all get interrupted. Whether we realize it or not, we’re all interrupters, too. What was once socially unacceptable has become everyday behavior. Interruptions are an unfortunate sign of our times. We look at our ever-present communication equipment more than we make eye contact with others, even when we socialize. We’ve convinced ourselves that everything flashing across our screens requires our immediate attention. But we’ve lost the art of listening in the process.

The Ground is Always Shifting

Some days seem like video games featuring a barrage of hazards and rewards that require me to duck and lurch and leap. The dings and beeps emanating from multiple electronic devices combine with banner notifications regularly popping up on my computer. I feel compelled to look at the various screens to see what all the commotion is about.

Are you constantly shifting focus between email, computer screens, phones, people, Facebook posts and chats? Some of us do it because we think our jobs require it. But most of us have just trained ourselves to the bell, the buzz, or the ping. The constant stream of real-time information has conditioned us to respond immediately. Whether we need to or not. It interrupts our thought processes and makes it difficult to focus for any length of time.

We’re like the mice in noted psychologist B.F. Skinner’s famous boxes. They learned how to feed themselves through operant conditioning. The critters were rewarded with food and water when they figured out which bar delivered their sustenance when pressed. We seek professional survival in the same way by attending to a steady stream of commands flashed before our eyes each day: Reply, Enter, Submit, Upload.

Our heads spin as we try to read one screen while typing or keying a reply on another. And some of those times our eyes should be on the road instead of on the GPS or our iTunes accounts. But we’re conditioned. Our behavior is fixed.

Find Your Footing and Get a Grip

Have we descended into Skinnerian hell? Maybe. But smart communicators will reduce interruptions by considering the three main reasons why people do it:

1. Our topic doesn’t interest them;

2. Our delivery is too long;

3. They are trained to the 5-word sound bite and can’t focus beyond that point.

We must choose our words carefully to get our points across to our chosen audiences.

Say What?

It’s easier than you may think to keep your audience on topic. Your topic, not those others flashing across their screens. Use three guidelines to hold your audiences’ attention.

1. Keep your communication interesting. Use grabber headlines and words. Use fun analogies. Make it relatable, so the receivers think, “I’ve been there!”

2. Keep your communications succinct. Wring out excess words. Isolate the essence of your message and convey it in as few words as possible.

3. Keep your communication moving. Get right to the point, and go from A to B. If you must set every scene and tell every detail you’ll lose your audience by the time you hit D.

Using this simple strategy may take some practice. And it may hurt you to slice off words or anecdotes that you enjoy. But your entire message will get through with fewer interruptions. And remember to attend to what others have to say, too, when it’s your turn to listen. Your communications will be richer when all parties are heard. Visit my blog for more communication tips. And contact me for help with your professional communications.

Colleen is a custom copywriter specializing in producing professional writing services for businesses