There is no pause button in a meeting. We have them in YouTube, we have them in Netflix, we even have them in kids when we say "Go ask your mom". Not in meetings.

You're waiting for the polite moment to speak. In Taiwan, that is a sign of respect. You often listen, you wait, and you definitely don't interrupt the boss.

In an English meeting, that moment never comes. Someone else speaks first and the meeting moves on without you. Your foreign manager then might think "why you were so quiet".

You weren't quiet. You were polite. They just didn't see it that way.

Interrupting is a skill

In English meetings, people jump in all the time. The right phrase does the polite part for you.

  • Jump in: "Can I jump in here?" · "Sorry to interrupt, but..." · "Just to add to that..."
  • Buy time: "Good question. Let me think for a second." · "Can I come back to you?" · "Just so I understand, are you saying...?"
  • Agree: "I'm with Dennis on this." · "That makes sense to me." · "Exactly. And..."
  • Disagree politely: "I see it a little differently." · "I agree with most of that, but..." · "I'm not so sure about...?"

Pick one from each line. You don't need to remember all of them.  Find one that you will actually use in a meeting next week.

Speak in the first 10 minutes

The longer you wait, the harder it gets. Say one thing early, even if its something small. It counts.

Once your voice is in the room, the second time is easy.

Use "we"

When I coach teams, I ask them to stop halfway through a meeting and ask one question: "What have we accomplished so far?"

Try it yourself. It helps everyone and nobody says no to it.

Practice where mistakes are cheap

You won't learn this in a meeting with your CEO. You learn it in a room where mistakes don't cost anything.

That's the second half of every VINEdots class: 30 minutes of small-group discussion where everyone speaks. Jumping in gets easier every week. Because being polite in your culture and being polite in an English meeting are two different things. Learn both.

Join a live class, or if your whole team needs this, talk to us about corporate training.