How do I train my boss to shut up?

Dear Aunty B,

My boss is driving me mad. He has the most infuriating habit of speaking over me. I never get to finish a sentence before he interrupts. It’s not like he’s saying that I am wrong. He just doesn’t finish listening to me.

Like I might be in a meeting and talking to staff when he will completely butt in and talk over me until I stop speaking. The other week I decided to keep speaking and he and I ended up almost in a yelling match until I stopped talking. It is really frustrating.

How do I train him to shut up?
Melbourne

Dear How do I tell him to shut up?

Okay, he is a rude, impatient git like all of us bosses. But listen to yourself. You just made the same point three times before I got a word in. And we have only just met!

No wonder he interrupts. Here is what you must do. Think carefully before you speak and make your point once. Then shut your mouth. You could well be the type of person at a meeting that sits there and makes the same point five different ways.

If you are making your point once and once only and he speaks over you, calmly look at him and say: excuse me, let me finish.

That will do the trick. He will get used to listening to your nuggets because you only state them once and he will also get used to you making him wait until you finish.

Before you know it he will behave better than a circus monkey.

Good luck,
Your Aunty B

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