Why won’t people listen to me?

My problem is that people don’t listen to me when I speak. I attempt the whole body langauge thing, make eye contact and try and sound enthusiastic, although it dosen’t help me.
I’m a good listener, but I want the opportunity to talk for a change. For example, when I talk to someone, during my speaking, they’ll happily interrupt me and shout "Wow! There’s a new flavour of McFlurry" and often walk off.

Why is this? And how can i prevent it happening?

I’ve often told people off with it, but they get all defensive and angry. I need to find a way for them to listen to me in the first place

Any advice, tips or answers would be appreicated.
Thanks for the answers, although not finding a solution, it has opened my mind to other perspectives and ur answers have been fantastic. I may try a public speaking course or something, but theres not much that caters for people with low confidence/shyness/poor communicators.
My problem does occur a lot , so i would be saying "hold on I’m sorry but i wasn’t finished." a few times!
I’m not very confident at all to be honest, and i think a part of that is reflected in the way i speak. I was also quite a loner during childhood, so I think that could also be a reason why i found speaking a tad difficult

Speech is silver silent is gold…this is why…

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Body Langauge Tips

February 19th, 2010

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tessa1198

possibly when you start talking about a subject you stay on that subject for a while? try talking about something short and sweet…see if that helps!
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February 19, 2010 1:08 pm

lapantha6

Well don’t take the negative approach when people do thing like that to you. it’s a rough world out here. it’s like driving in the suburbs and driving in NYC. In the city you have to haul a** and push yourself out or you’ll get ran over in the street. If that happpens where someone cuts you off, just say" hold on I’m sorry but i wasn’t finished. " I gaurantee you, they will shut up because they would feel like they cut you off. Feel a little more confident in what you say. You probably have a lot of wisdom to share. It’s ok to step out the box. You never know what you might say to change someones life.
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February 19, 2010 1:41 pm

T.T.K.

Speech is silver silent is gold…this is why…
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February 19, 2010 1:59 pm

Deb J

I am older and see this happening more and more. In my case, people just want to talk about superficial things and don’t want to talk about the more pressing issues in life. If I happen on to a subject that is the least bit controversial or emotional, etc., people seem to change the subject without notice. I find that both rude and sad, since people everywhere could use some face to face dialogue about really important issues. When I was young, we didn’t have cell phones, texting, voice mail, tv talk shows, and email. We actually visited people in person and talked. I think people are more frightened of the intimacy of face to face conversation anymore. However, even when I was young, when somebody hit on a taboo subject, you could hear a pin drop. I was a molested child, and no one would listen to me. The subject was changed IMMEDIATELY. What I’ve learned from this is that sometimes when people change the subject very quickly, it’s because I’ve hit a nerve within them. I figured this out when I started asking people if I’d offended them in some way. That puts the ball back in their court for an answer. Some people actually told me that what I’d said just reminded them of something they didn’t want to think about, and others just sort of ignored me. It’s worth a try though-to seek first to understand. I’ve also noticed that if you speak softly, people will strain to hear what you have to say. That’s worked for me sometimes too. Other times when people have just changed the subject, I simply walk away. Some have then come to me and asked me why, and I told them that they didn’t seem to be interested in the conversation so I thought I’d just move along. (This is usually in a group situation like a party.) I was nice about it, and they seemed to pause and consider what I said. My biggest eye opener was when I gave a speech at a peace rally a couple years ago. There were several thousand people there, and I was scared to death. I wasn’t a person people listened to much either. Well…in those minutes, people didn’t just listen, they cried and applauded and I was in the newspaper, on tv and parts of my speech ended up on NPR radio the next day. I figured out then that I did have something to say and that people did want to hear it. I just had to go about it in a different way. I’ve given more speeches since and have become involved with organizations. And if you’re young, consider taking a college course in Public Speaking. Believe me, you’ll be standing in front of a class and people WILL listen!!! Hope this has helped give you some perspective.
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February 19, 2010 2:25 pm

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