Let your friend tell the story you’ve already heard. Laugh like it’s new.

Telling it is doing something for them that has nothing to do with the information. People return to the stories that worked, because the retelling is how they relive a good night or get a reaction they trust. Cutting in with the fact that you were there, or that you have heard it, saves ninety seconds and takes something small from them.

Let the next repeat run. You can even feed them the line they need. And notice who does it for you, because the people who let you tell your stories twice are a particular kind of friend.