Monologists

There is narrative too. When dialogue becomes monologue.

Ah, monologists. They can be great storytellers. Or they can be conversation killers.

I know what you mean. We all know people like that. A good conversation is not just cut and thrust, weave and duck, then run away.

True. At some point talk between people must be punctuated, pithily, with a spiffy story.

Just so. And that means taking the floor, picking up the ball and running with it for a bit.

But again, telling a story, telling it well, is an art. Those who drone on holding the fort, taking the high ground, defending their position, digging their trenches...

Some rather combative terms coming up here. You think that monologists see conversation as an arena to be defended, ramparts that have to be reinforced, castles that have to be built, wagons that have to be circled?

All that defensive conversational territory grabbing, it stifles dialogue.

It may not be conscious with some people. Some are not good at speaking spontaneously, not nimble in their thinking, so they protect themselves with a long rehearsed story.

Exactly, So to keep the ball rolling you have to fight your way in, storm their walls. Maybe even launch a big story of your own.

The Sun Tzu approach to conversation? Dialogue as war?
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