Introduction

In business meetings it is sometimes necessary to interrupt a speaker. This is possible but it

should be done politely. We'll be looking at some ways you can do this.

Think

Imagine that you are in a meeting, and you want to interrupt to ask a question or make a
comment. How might you do it?

Politeness

If you are interrupting or disagreeing with people, it is even more important to be polite:
your views are more likely to be respected if you present them in a professional and non-
confrontational (non-argumentative) way.

There are several ways to make what you say sound more polite and less confrontational:
BBC Learning English TeamUse 'can' or 'could'. 
In unit 4, John says; 'Sean, can I just ask you…?'
In Unit 1, Alex says 'If you could go through them in order…'
Both expressions above are more polite than simply saying 'I want to know…' or 'Go
through them in order…'

Use 'would like'

In unit 2, Tim says '…I'd like to be with other editors…'
In unit 3, Will says 'I would like to be able to show her drawings…'
This sounds much more polite than 'I want…'

Say 'sorry'
In unit 2, Tim says: 'I'm sorry, but I really strongly disagree…'
In unit 4, John says: 'Sorry to hold the meeting up'
This is a very common way to 'soften' what you say. Tim and John are not really
apologising for what they say - using 'sorry' is telling the listener: 'I'm going to say or do
something you might not like, so please don’t get upset'.

Use 'just'
In unit 2, Sean says: 'I just wanted to see…'
In unit 4, John says; 'Sean, can I just ask you…?'
The word 'just' gives the listener a message that you are not asking them to deal with
something difficult or time-consuming; that it is not going to be a problem.  
 The BBC Learning English Team in action

Use 'I think' or 'I feel'

In unit 4, John says: 'I do feel quite strongly that we're bringing this out too soon…'
and Carrie says 'I don’t think we’ve got any choice…'
These phrases have the effect of softening what they are saying, by presenting their ideas as
opinions, not orders or instructions.

Acknowledge people
In unit 1, Alex says; 'Okay everybody, ….' '…as you can see…'
In unit 2, Tim says; 'Yeah Sean, ….'
It's important to acknowledge the other people in the meeting, by using their names, or
words like 'you', 'we', 'everybody', 'my colleagues' etc. If you don’t use these words and
expressions, you may give people the impression that you are rather detached and/or
authoritarian.