This is a common mistake, and I’ve been known to make it too.
You cannot predict what someone is about to say, ever. You can make guesses, and sometimes you’ll be right, but the worst case of “I know what you’re going to say so let me cut you off” being wrong is far, far worse, than letting it play through and being right.
In the former case, you reinforce that this person will simply stop talking to you or telling you stories because they think you are rude. In the latter case, you’ve wasted a few minutes of time but continue developing a relationship and building trust with which you can ask clarifying questions without coming off as rude and alienating your conversation partner.
I think you’re misreading what I said. I’m not talking about predicting what they’re about to say, I’m talking about correcting priors that you know are wrong.
If someone starts with “here’s what we can do in 3 days” and you know only 1 day is available, that’s the perfect moment to spend 10 seconds correcting an assumption. No incorrect predictions necessary.
You cannot predict what someone is about to say, ever. You can make guesses, and sometimes you’ll be right, but the worst case of “I know what you’re going to say so let me cut you off” being wrong is far, far worse, than letting it play through and being right.
In the former case, you reinforce that this person will simply stop talking to you or telling you stories because they think you are rude. In the latter case, you’ve wasted a few minutes of time but continue developing a relationship and building trust with which you can ask clarifying questions without coming off as rude and alienating your conversation partner.