Rob Dial explains conversational narcissism, a habit of redirecting every conversation back to yourself. Sociologist Charles Durber coined the term. The fix: listen to others instead of waiting for your turn to talk about yourself.
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If you want more people to like you, stop being a conversational narcissist. Let me show you what that looks like really quick. So my wife and I are planning a trip to Hawaii this summer. Oh, vacation? Yeah, I just got back from Jamaica with my wife, and I got the worst sunburn ever. Man, that sounds like a lot of fun. What place are you going to be traveling to? And how long are you guys planning on being there? Man, work has been really crazy lately, and I'm just starting to get overwhelmed with my workload. Tell me about it. I've been working crazy hours, too. It's like my boss doesn't even care if I have a personal life. Oh, man, I'm so sorry to hear that. Is there anything that I can do to help? So, the term conversational narcissist was first coined by sociologist Charles Durber. A conversational narcissist is a person who consistently turns the focus of conversations towards themselves and their experiences, making the other person feel unheard because they failed to give any consideration or response to the other person's experiences or their feelings. This, over time, really starts to undermine the experiences of other people. So. So if you don't want to be a conversational narcissist, remember this. Seek to hear more than to be heard.