Please Let Them Finish

Welcome to my Monday Morning Message

I caught myself the other day.

I was coaching a student… and instead of fully listening, I was already thinking about what I was going to say next.

Not proud of it. But very human.

And it got me thinking…

How often do we do this?

Someone is talking… And we jump in. Finish their sentence. Redirect the conversation. Or quietly prepare our response instead of actually hearing them.

We’ve all been in those group conversations too— Everyone talking, no one really listening. People getting cut off mid-thought.

And if you’ve ever been on the receiving end of that, you know the feeling… It’s like your words didn’t quite land.

Here’s what I’m learning (and practicing):

The real gold in a conversation often comes at the end of someone’s thought. After the pause. After they take a breath. After they feel like they actually have space to articulate their ideas fully.

Listening isn’t just being quiet while someone else talks. It’s giving them the room to finish… and maybe even go a little deeper.

So this week, I invite us all to practice something simple:

Let them finish.

No rushing. No interrupting. No rehearsing our response.

Just listening.

We might be pleasantly surprised by what we hear.

With warmth, Colette