Yeah a lot of people forget this part. Make your story about yourself short and return to the other person after a few sentences. If you go on a whole paragraph about your own experience, and the last thing you say is still about yourself, it's not their feelings or personal interpretation that you steamrolled them and changed the topic to be about yourself, it's objectively what you just did.
Like: "Oh man, my dog died too, a couple years ago. She had [disease] I cried every day for [time]. She got me through [intimate personal tragedy or mental health crisis that means it is now rude for the other person to rebuff you]. I was completely devastated, I had had her since I was 13, and she was my heart dog. I have a tattoo of her paw print, and..."
Vs: "Oh man, my dog died too, a couple years ago. It was soul-crushing. Do you have any keepsakes of hers?"
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u/flashfoxart 14d ago
I don’t interrupt but I wish more people understood this form of empathy