If you have a problem with waffling on and on, here are some tips on how to cut to the chase

'Oh, no, John’s coming. I can’t stand it when he talks to me. He never gets to the point. He tells me the same thing in six different ways, with loads of details I don’t want or need. Why can't he just get to the point?’

Poor John. And poor us, for we've all been on the giving and receiving end of the same problem.

How do you know if you need to edit what you say? And how do you edit yourself?

1. Don't get bogged down in irrelevant details. ‘I went there on Thursday, or was it Wednesday, no it must have been Thursday...’ Who cares which day it was? Get on with it.

2. Don't repeat comments unless the listener didn't hear you or indicates she didn't understand. Say it once and carry on.

3. Decide if the idea is new to the discussion. If it isn’t, don't say it. Rehashed ideas are waste of time.

4. Eliminate extra words. Make your comments using as few words as possible to express what you want to say. We are taught to edit on writing courses. We can apply the same concepts when we are speaking.

5. Speak at a pace that is easy to listen to. Avoid going so slowly that the person listening to you starts to glaze over or begins completing your sentences because they’ve guessed what you’re going to say.

6. Eliminate jokes that only you think are funny. This is especially deadly at meetings. You may think you're the next Billy Connolly, but everyone else thinks you're wasting their time with your dodgy jokes.

7. Eliminate redundant words and phrases, such as ‘um’ ‘er’ ‘you know’ and ‘like’. Pause without filling in the gaps with unnecessary words.

8. In a group discussion, ask questions that are relevant to other people as well as you. Don't discuss information that is not relevant to the majority of the group. If you have a specific question to ask someone, save it for a one-to-one discussion later.