How do you get a meeting back on track after a tangent?
Acknowledge the point, then redirect: "Can we park that and come back to it?" You're not shutting anyone down. You're showing the room that someone's in charge.
What I say in the video
You are leading a meeting. Someone goes off on a tangent, or two people start debating something that's not on the agenda, and now you're watching the clock thinking, "we're never getting this back."
Here's what works: acknowledge what they said, then redirect. Something like, "That's a great point and I wanna make sure we give it the time it deserves. Can we park that and come back to it? I wanna make sure we get through what we need to today."
You're not shutting anyone down. You're showing the room that someone's in charge.
What I didn’t say in the video
Most people let a tangent run because redirecting feels rude. So they wait for it to end on its own, and it rarely does.
Acknowledging the point first is what makes the redirect work. The person who raised it doesn't feel dismissed, and the rest of the room is quietly grateful someone stepped in. The part people forget is actually coming back to it, even with a quick follow-up email. If parked items never come back, people stop trusting the parking lot.
Try it today
Keep a "parked" list in your notes for your next meeting. Before it ends, read the list out loud and decide what happens with each item.
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.
