I’ve caught myself rambling mid-sentence more times than I’d like to admit. Not in a cute and charming way, but in way that made people tune out entirely because they had no idea where I was going.
The uncomfortable truth is that rambling at work doesn’t make you seem thoughtful or transparent. It makes you sound unfocused, underprepared, and more junior than you actually are.
On the plus side, rambling isn’t some innate personality flaw. It’s just that most of us were never taught how to edit ourselves at work, let alone tell a clear story.
In this article, I’ll cover why we tend to ramble so often and how to catch yourself in the moment. I’ll also discuss why it matters if you want to advance in seniority, and how to speak more clearly and concisely.
Why do we ramble?
When we ramble, it’s usually because of one of three reasons.
1. You think while speaking.
Your brain is still organising your thoughts and opinions even though you’re already verbalising them. This may be fine during a brainstorming session, but it really isn’t when you’re in a position of leadership and people expect clarity from you.
2. You use words to manage your own discomfort.
I call this emotional rambling, and it mostly happens when you feel pressure, uncertainty, or the need to prove yourself, like in a job interview, for example. Talking makes you feel safer and in control of the situation. But while it might feel reassuring to hear your own voice, it often feels overwhelming to the listener.
3. You confuse thoroughness with usefulness.
You try to prove you’re prepared or credible by adding more and more context. Most of the time, it just obscures the point you were trying to make.
In each case, rambling is self-protective. You’re managing your thoughts, your discomfort, or your need to feel thorough, even though none of that helps the listener. You’ll stop rambling the moment you can shift from trying to protect yourself to focusing on what the other person actually needs to hear.
How to tell you're rambling
Most people aren’t self-aware enough in the moment to catch that they’re rambling. Here are the signs you can notice while you’re speaking, even if your listeners are polite enough not to let it on.
1) If the question was short and you notice your answer is now getting longer and longer.
2) When you’re a few sentences in and still haven’t landed a clear point. Strong communicators always deliver their point fast.
3) If you catch yourself opening a second idea before you’ve properly closed the first. Anytime you hear yourself say “and also” or “just to add,” you’re drifting.
4) If you’re explaining things nobody asked for or answering a question nobody asked.
5) You notice yourself repeating the same point but in slightly different wording.
6) You notice that tiny internal thought of “I should probably wrap this up”, or you have a sudden, unexplained urge to stop talking.
None of these six behavioural markers requires deep emotional awareness, because you can hear them as you’re speaking.
Why is rambling so bad?
You might think, ‘Come on, surely a bit of overcommunicating isn’t that bad. As long as I don’t say anything stupid, it’s okay?’
No. Rambling isn’t some minor communication quirk. It really does shape how people judge your brand and your readiness for more responsibility.
Firstly, in a professional context, your thinking is judged by how you speak, so if your answers drift a lot, they’ll assume that your mind does the same.
Secondly, as you move up the chain of command, people don’t have time to listen to your internal monologues. They want the executive summary, not a TED talk, and people expect their leaders to filter, prioritise, and land their point quickly.
Thirdly, the more senior you are, the more weight your words carry. One casual offhand or poorly worded comment could send team members, investors and clients into a panic.
Fourthly, rambling weakens your perceived steadiness. When we think of people with gravitas, they speak from a place of intention, and they know when to stop. When you overtalk, however, you sound anxious rather than authoritative.
And finally, rambling is irritating. When you’re long-winded or hard to follow, people eventually avoid asking for your input. You really don’t want that kind of irritation to stick or become part of your professional brand.
Of course, not everything that comes out of your mouth needs to be highly polished and pitch-perfect. But whatever you say, it needs to signal clarity, composure, and authority. The fastest way to do that is to add more intention.
The power of good storytelling
The antidote to rambling isn't necessarily saying less, but good storytelling. And good storytelling and telling more of a story aren't the same.
Good storytelling has five core elements:
1. It has purpose
Before you open your mouth, get clear internally on why you're talking in the first instance. Not necessarily the exact words you're about to say, but the purpose of why you're speaking in that moment. What do you want the listener to understand, notice, or reflect on as a result of your words?
This helps you guide the story's direction and give it structure.
2. It's one-directional
And that direction needs to be forward, so that each sentence builds toward something. Rambling, on the other hand, moves sideways. Instead of moving forward, you stack more detail, more context, more information, without the story actually progressing. A forward-moving story sounds like, "Here's what happened, here's what shifted, and here's what I learned."
3. It’s lean.
Use only one or two essential details. People who talk too much often drag in everything that comes to mind, so their story loses its shape. The smartest move is sometimes not to tell a story at all, understanding that the listener might just want a clear answer: "Yes, we're on track," or "No, we'll miss the deadline."
If a single line of context genuinely helps, add it, but you don't need a whole backstory. If people want more detail, they'll ask. Senior and intentional communicators answer without providing a whole narrative.
4. It’s audience-focused.
If the story doesn't help your audience understand or learn something, it's not a story. Nothing makes people switch off faster than a self-indulgent speaker who talks purely because they love the sound of their own voice.
The purpose of talking is not to process your own thoughts or feelings, at least not in most work contexts.
5. It has a clear ending.
Once you feel your message has landed, stop. People who ramble keep going until they run out of steam or finally notice their audience has switched off. A clean ending sounds like, "And that's why I need a clear decision from you today", or "And that's why I need your input now.", or "And that's what matters here."
How to speak with real authority
When you strip it back, this all comes down to strategic editing. Not editing your personality, but editing your communication by giving people the clean version, not the live-streamed monologue.
Strategic editing is the discipline of knowing your purpose before you speak. Landing the one-sentence answer when that’s all that’s needed. Using one essential detail, not the whole archive, and speaking for the room, not to soothe your own head.
That’s what real executive presence looks like.
And for every non-native speaker worrying about sounding perfect: the people with the largest vocabularies are often not the ones who get listened to. It’s the people who edit themselves and who can tell a story in a clear and concise way.
So if you want to sound more senior, cut the padding. Use fewer words.
You can save the rambling for your hairdresser, who literally gets paid to listen to it.
