Day 83 - Good listeners among talkers

Being a good listener is important. But there are always people rushing in with a bigger voice. I've been in countless situations like this. By the time I want to speak up, everyone moved onto a new topic. How do you be a good listener among people who talk all the time? When is it your turn?

To be fair, I'm mostly quiet and I would rather listen to someone talk instead, so no shame to talkers. But that doesn't mean I'm horribly shy or don't like talking or have zero opinions. I just digest things a little slower before I speak. So I guess that's why most people have the upper hand. It still seems like being a good listener doesn't work well in big group settings where people with a bigger voice triumph over others. Sometimes I wish the world wasn't made for extroverts. It's annoying how it is.

Maybe you might say — try to go around the table to give each person a chance to talk. But that might require too much time if there is a time limit. That's why I prefer 1-1s more or much smaller groups. We get almost an equal chance of talking and learning about each other. I'm sure I'm not the only one having similar thoughts. How would you handle these big group settings?