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Say, calmly: “I wasn’t quite finished. I’d like to complete my comment, and then I’d love to hear your thoughts.” Then continue your point. If the interruptions keep happening, address the pattern privately or ask the meeting facilitator to return the floor to you. One interruption does not establish intent, and no script can guarantee how someone will respond.

What to say when someone interrupts you

Pause briefly, then make a clear request to finish rather than competing to speak louder. A Harvard Business Review meeting-participation tip offers this wording: “I wasn’t quite finished. I’d like to complete my comment, and then I’d love to hear your thoughts.” Harvard Business Review

After saying it, return to the point you were making. A short, steady response can reclaim your turn without turning the exchange into a contest over volume. Adapt the wording to your workplace, seniority, and comfort; the aim is to make the request unmistakable, not to deliver a perfect line.

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How to handle a repeated pattern

If the same colleague cuts you off repeatedly, choose a private moment and describe what you have observed. Avoid guessing at the person’s motive. For example: “In the last few meetings, I’ve been cut off before finishing my update. Could you let me finish before responding?” This is a practical script, not a guarantee that the behavior will change.

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If the pattern continues, keep brief notes of concrete examples—such as the meeting, what you were trying to say, and what happened—and consider raising the issue with an appropriate manager. If there is a power imbalance or you do not feel comfortable speaking directly to the colleague, a private manager or HR channel may feel more suitable. There is no single escalation route established for every workplace.

What to do if you are leading the meeting

A facilitator can make participation expectations clear and protect the floor when someone is interrupted. At the start, ask people to let one another finish. If a speaker is cut off, invite them to complete their point before moving on. Harvard Business Review’s meeting guidance also suggests redirecting a participant who is dominating the discussion: “Andre, let me get some others into this conversation, and then I’ll come back to you, OK?” Harvard Business Review

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If one person continues to take most of the airtime, invite others to contribute and ask the frequent speaker to hold back briefly. The facilitator’s role is not to decide why someone interrupted; it is to keep the conversation workable and give participants a fair chance to finish.

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How to interpret interruptions without assuming intent

An overlap can happen for different reasons, and a single incident does not show whether it was deliberate. Pay attention to the observable pattern: whether you are repeatedly prevented from finishing, whether it happens across meetings, and whether requests to finish are respected.

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A June 3, 2026 Harvard Business Review article summarized a qualitative study involving 27 employees and leaders. The article reported that women and employees from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups described more frequent interruptions, often before completing an idea; some participants said they spoke less, self-censored, or withdrew. That small qualitative sample is not a population estimate, so it cannot establish how common the experience is across all workplaces. Harvard Business Review

Work interruptions more broadly are not the same thing as being talked over in a meeting. A 2021 study by Harshad Puranik, Joel Koopman, and Heather C. Vough used three weeks of experience-sampling data from 111 participants to examine daily work intrusions and employee well-being. It describes possible negative and positive pathways for job satisfaction, but it does not measure how often meeting participants are interrupted. Journal of Applied Psychology

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