10 Signs You Talk Too Much

Are you too talkative? If you routinely experience more than one of these symptoms, you probably are. However, "chatter-box-itis" is correctable and you can keep your personality intact and simultaneously improve your social skills using the suggestions listed after these symptoms.

1. When you routinely leave a conversation/social event and you find that you have gained no new information about/from the others involved. This is a sign that you over-dominated the conversation, which was probably more of a lecture from you to the others (at least that's the way they probably experienced it).
2. While listening to someone else talk, you often find it necessary to interrupt them, breaking into their story with one of your own (this is a problem for many people: listening to others' stories triggers memories of their own). Impatience to join in the storytelling with your own stories is often a sign that you aren't giving enough respect/attention/care to the others involved in the conversation, that you have an exaggerated view of the importance of your own words compared to those of others, or that you need to work on your patience.
3. You often call, text, e-mail, IM, or phone people (not necessarily always the same person) at any/all times of the day, even during conversations with others or at social events. This is a sign that (a.) You think what you have to say is so important that everybody else needs to hear it immediately even if they are not present, (b.) you prefer being the talker (and center of attention) so much that you ignore those immediately around you (who might want to equally divide the talker/listener roles of conversation) in favor of those who are not present but who provide (willingly or unwillingly) a mobile audience for your need to be heard, or (c.) You are uncomfortable with face-to-face conversations and prefer technologically aided ones, want to look as if you're still socializing/communicating when those present are not talking to you, or you have a hard time letting a few hours pass by without speaking to that certain person you always talk to.
4. 25% or more of your phone calls, text messages, e-mails, or IM messages are not answered/returned within 24 hours of being sent. This is a sign that your audience is weary of listening to you, you've run out of interesting things to say after saying everything else, your audience has important things to do than listen at the moment (especially if you've contacted them too much - this could be a sign of it), or all of the above.
5. You often walk up to someone you know and - before the conversation really gets going - he/she (often in an abrupt/annoyed manner) says “I can't talk long,” “I was just about to leave,” or something intended to warn you that they don't have enough time for a lengthy conversation. Loathe to interrupt people (interruptions are one of my worst annoyances), I often use one of these lines when I see an especially talkative person coming along and I'm not in the mood or have things to do.
6. When you are talking to others you usually find that their eyes have glazed over, they're looking past you, or they don't seem to have appreciated your story when you're done. If your listeners watch/look all around except at you, the only answers are noncommittal nods and smiles, or they look anxious/keep trying to speak, they are probably not enjoying your conversational attempt (which is probably more of a speech or lecture).
7. During the course of a conversation you often find yourself having to follow your "listener" around. He or she is probably trying to get you to shut up or leave by committing him/her self to another task or simply leaving you behind (or it could be a walk-and-talk moment: test it to make sure by giving your listener a chance to speak).
8. If you find yourself talking for more than five minutes straight and are not entirely sure whether your audience is interested or even still listening to you, they might not be. Before you blabber on, think about what you want to say and whether you'd want to listen to it yourself. If you wouldn't, give somebody else a chance to talk.
9. When you invite someone over/try to hang out with people and they usually decline. This is especially apparent when you try to hang out with people during lunch or break times at work or school when it is usually convenient for most people to socialize.
10. You often find yourself at a loss for what else to say but continue talking. It's probably time to give it a rest since you have nothing interesting to say to your exhausted audience, which probably has more engaging things to talk about.