What is a Chatty Cathy?

You may be too young to remember the Chatty Cathy doll. She came to the market in 1959 and had a little pull string to say phrases like, “I love you” or “I hurt myself!”

Now, the phrase is used to describe a person who talks a lot but doesn’t necessarily say anything of real consequence. The key to understanding your chatty Cathy is that she (or he as the case may be) feels that what she is saying is important, and it may be, so you can’t simply dismiss what she is saying.

What makes this even harder for you is that you should expect roughly 35% of your clients are extroverts, which are far more likely to fall into this chatty Cathy category.

Let’s Give an Example

Last week I had a client come in for her dog and was super chatty. Definitely was a chatty Cathy.

My Cathy was super nice. She was super sweet… not a mean bone in her body, I’m sure. She started telling me about her previous dog and how it had died. She talked about the previous vet that took care of her and her dog and how wonderful she was. Cathy then moved and lost contact with her family members.

She really wanted to tell me everything in a very kind, sweet way. This type of conversation, if not for the fact that I had to help her dog that was in for the appointment then get on to the other 2 scheduled appointments, could probably go on for hours.

Getting Back On Track

By a show of hands, how many of you have had a similar experience? (I can see your hands through the computer screen). You know if you aren’t careful, you’ll never get to the reason you are in that appointment.

So what do you do?

I’ve developed a few scripts over the years that allow me to get back on track quickly. I’ll change them out as the situation arises but I think that I should share my most common one here.

First, give your chatty Cathy a few minutes or two to share. You don’t want to cut her off too soon and quite frankly, listening is quite enjoyable. When there is the slightest pause in the conversation (you might have to listen closely for this), try this script:

“I’ve enjoyed chatting with you and getting to know you, but we better talk about _ before we run out of time.”

It’s a simple sentence that does a few key things:

Gets you immediately on track by reminding your client the reason you are there. Allows you to take charge of the conversation again. Allows your client to feel that you are interested in them and, almost more importantly to them, their pet.

Cathy might start up again at any point in the conversation like when you start talking about her pet’s history or treatment plan. Don’t be afraid to cut it off, kindly, at any point with something like:

“Oh, boy, I’ve really enjoyed chatting with you, but we better get back to our plan for Max or we’re going to run out of time”

Your Goal is Different Than Cathy’s

The reality is that extreme extroverts don’t often see time the same way we do in the hospital environment. They get their energy by engaging with people and don’t worry about time nearly as much as you need to. But, if you are persistent in bringing it back to their pet, you might even get lucky and find they’ll help you get back on track, when they realize they’ve veered off course, yet again.