Missing the big picture?

After a business meeting today, three people left the room to talk. Two were there to talk business, while one was there to chat with the other two. Quite redundant, she could have given her message succinctly and left, which would have allowed her time to meet others, but she stayed. The other two waited patiently until she finished, talked to each other briefly about business and left. The chatterer missed the big picture, of two people really wanting to do business with each other. When three people get together for business, often two are there on an equal level, but one may be on a different level of the organizational structure. That one needs to be acutely aware of the situation, as to when in American culture it is useful to be involved and when to be quiet. When the three are strangers to each other, it can be harder to appropriately signal the chatterer. One way to do it is to say, "Thank you for your information, (name of chatterer).We appreciate your explaining that." Then, through slightly turning the body away from the chatterer, look at the other person with whom you want to talk, and ask, "As you were mentioning to me, (name of person)." Have you ever been in a situation like this? How did you handle it to turn your attention to the appropriate person to whom you really wanted to speak? As this can be a cultural issue, if you are not from the USA, please tell us your country! Business Speech Improvement offers an e-book on Small Talk:Connecting with Others.