How do you handle being interrupted in a meeting?
Calm voice, no edge: "Let me finish my thought." No apology, no over-explaining, just a clear and neutral request.
What I say in the video
You're mid-sentence and someone jumps in. Now you're sitting there frustrated, trying to figure out how to get back in.
Try this. Calm voice, no edge. "Let me finish my thought." That's it. No apology, no over-explaining, just a clear, neutral request.
Most people will pull back right away, and the room learns that your time at the mic is yours.
What I didn’t say in the video
Most people react to an interruption by getting louder or by giving up the floor. Loud turns it into a contest. Quiet teaches the room that talking over you works.
“Let me finish my thought” avoids both because it doesn’t argue. It just states a fact, so there’s nothing to push back against. The tone does the heavy lifting. Said calmly and evenly, it reads as a simple boundary. Do it a few times and people stop cutting in, because they’ve learned you’ll keep the floor every time.
Try it today
Practice the line out loud once or twice before you need it. The calm is easy when you're rehearsed and hard when you're caught off guard.
Bill Smartt is a New York executive presence and public speaking coach and the founder of Smartt Talk. He works with leaders in financial services, tech, advertising and startups.
