You start a sentence in the planning meeting. Three words in, a colleague starts talking, a little louder, and the room turns to them. It happened last week too. By the third time you have mostly stopped trying.
First, know that this is common and rarely personal. Some people think out loud and do not notice. Some come from teams where overlapping is normal. Some are simply used to being listened to. None of that makes it fine, but it does mean there is usually room to fix it without a fight.
Hold your ground for one sentence. When someone starts over you, keep going, calmly, at the same volume. Then say, warmly, I just want to finish this point. Most people stop at once, slightly embarrassed. You are not being rude. You are finishing what you started.
Make your opening count. Say the point first and the context after, so the important part is already out before anyone can cut in. Three words in is a bad place to be interrupted. A whole conclusion in your first sentence is much harder to talk over.
Use writing as backup. If an idea gets lost, post it after the meeting in the shared notes or the thread. I raised this earlier and want to make sure it is captured. Written ideas cannot be interrupted, and they leave a record of where they came from.
Speak to the person privately if it keeps happening. Keep it light and specific. In the last two planning meetings I got cut off a few times, and I am not sure you noticed. Could you give me a moment to finish? Many people genuinely do not know they do it, and they are grateful to be told.
Find an ally. Whoever runs the meeting can change a lot with one sentence. Hang on, I think Sam was still talking. And when you notice it happening to somebody else, be that ally for them. It costs you nothing.
If it carries on after all of that, it is no longer a habit. It is a pattern your manager should hear about, with dates and examples rather than a general feeling.
Your ideas deserve to be heard to the end. Getting there is a skill, and like every other skill, you can practise it.
– Asael Shinder
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