ADHD Iceberg-What People See

How can you communicate better as a person with ADHD?

Here are 4 tactics:

1.    Sometimes it’s hard to remember what you were gonna say, isn’t it?
And it’s also tough to recall what someone else said during a chat, right?

No problem, here’s the solution:
→    Take notes

Which means:
→    Jot down what you wanna say or ask
→    Jot down what the other person is saying during your conversation

And remember: it’s not a problem asking for a recap.

2.    Have you ever found yourself interrupting someone?
No problem, it’s normal.
Do you know why?
Because you may be afraid of forgetting something you wanna say.
The problem is that the other person may think you’re rude.
But in reality you aren’t — you just value your thoughts.
So, every improvement starts with self-awareness, right?

“Right!”

Great! So do this:
→   Be aware of how many times you interrupt people.

Simple: by counting how many times you interrupt, for example, in a meeting.

Next time you’re in a meeting or having a chat, try this:
→   Use your phone’s notes
→   Jot down how many times you interrupt others.

Your goal is simple:
→   You just need to reduce the number of interruptions by becoming aware of your progress.

Okay? Are you with me?

3.    Let’s be honest: how often do we find ourselves going off-topic?

Imagine this:
→    You and your friends are in a bar
→    One of your friends is talking about her last yoga session
→    You see a taxi outside of the window
→    You start talking about the experience you had yesterday with a taxi
→    And your friends say, “Uhm…”

No problem, it’s normal to go off-topic.

The solution is this:
→    Ask a close friend to signal you so you’ll know when you are going off-topic.

4.    Tell me, are you a talker?
I knew it — me too!
It’s so good talking when the other person respects our thoughts, right?
But sometimes our chats are too much, aren’t they?
Do you know why?
Simply because we’re passionate about the topic.

The problem is this:
→    We risk annoying the other person.

Let’s try to put ourselves in the other person’s shoes.
It’s not fun just listening, right?
“Right!”

Great! So, when you find yourself talking to much, do this:
→    Interrupt your chatter and ask a question.

Just to give the other person the opportunity to talk.
You can easily say:
→    “Chloe, do you find yourself in what I’m saying? What do you think?”