Penelope Mavor suggests that listening is not a passive act, so you could interrupt the flow

These conversational hoggers … don’t they know we were born with two ears and one mouth for a reason? Thank you, Anita Chaudhuri, for a fun, well observed and useful article (‘But enough about you …’ How to survive in a world of monologuists, interrupters and trauma dumpers, 13 September).

It is an interesting reflection to see which of the five hoggers more frequently turn up in our own lives. As a people pleaser and introvert, I have a track record of meeting many monologuists. I pretend to listen, but secretly resent them and their audacity. I just want them to ask about me.