Hearing fables about yourself from unfamiliar people is always unpleasant. Gossip and gossip have always existed and will exist. There are many motives for their actions and the reasons why someone else's life becomes more interesting than their own. But it’s better just to silence the gossip, as soon as he begins to "wash someone's bones." After all, if he talks about someone behind his back, most likely he does it behind your back too.
Give a firm rebuff
The best solution to the problem is to put the gossip in place, firmly indicating its position. If you have witnessed how someone began to discuss someone’s life without the presence of the one being discussed, you can make it clear in a soft or rough form that gossip is a manifestation of a person’s weakness. Most often, gossips take advantage of the fact that no one enters into an open confrontation with them, and this can be used. They will have nothing to object to, because gossip is really unworthy for a self-respecting person.
You can use neutral phrases: "I do not want to talk about this topic, " "I am not interested, " etc. You can do harsher things if the gossipers do not understand the first time: “Why don’t you ask Masha / Petya / Klava Ivanovna?”, “Only scratch your tongues behind your back”, etc.
If this happens in the work team, most likely, you will have to deal with it quite often, so you need to clearly and immediately define your position. Otherwise, you will be drawn into the discussion of someone else's life.
Ignore what is happening
Another option to deal with the gossip problem is ignoring. You can ignore the spread of rumors, defiantly get up and leave when someone starts an unpleasant conversation, turn on the headphones and not notice the gossipers themselves, or their violent activity. Someone knows how to do it tactfully, without hurting the feelings of others, others think that, on the contrary, it is necessary to emphasize in every possible way the unacceptable behavior of gossips.
If the situation occurs at work, the best way to ignore it is to work actively. You don’t need to go and drink coffee with those who will definitely start a conversation about someone else or ask for something from you. It’s better to do business, do everything on time and show that at work, first of all, you need to work. The one who really works has absolutely no time to chat with gossips and pay attention to someone else's life.