It takes practice.

“I started to notice how often I responded to stories of loss and struggle with stories of my own experiences.”

“What all of these people needed was for me to hear them and acknowledge what they were going through. Instead, I forced them to listen to me.”

“Sociologist Charles Derber describes this tendency as ‘conversational narcissism.’ Often subtle and unconscious, it’s the desire to take over a conversation, to do most of the talking, and to turn the focus of the exchange to yourself.“

That’s Celeste Headlee, writer and radio host, and you can read her piece HERE.