When I am talking to somebody, and miss something they say, rather than immediately asking them to repeat themselves, I have learned to wait for a second or two. My brain will often catch up and "listen again", and I will hear what was said (cue seamless conversation continuation). Other times I will awkwardly stare at them wordlessly, before asking them to repeat themselves.
I find the frequency of successfully listening again makes up for the occasional awkwardness.
May just be me, but I wondered whether anyone else does this.
I did say the content would be miscellaneous