“How can I deal with ‘serial interrupters,’ ramblers, and people who try to take over my meeting?”

At a recent conference,  a few of my audience members came up to me afterwards to discuss a challenge that they’ve had to face all too often during their work meetings. While we were deep in discussion about it, a few more people joined in on our conversation, where they confirmed that dealing with ‘difficult’ people, and ‘reining them in,’ can be a fairly common problem when trying to run a meeting.

These were the specific questions:

1. What do we do with ‘serial interrupters’ that ask questions that your presentation answers 2 slides after? 
2. How do you handle people who take over your meeting?
3. Is there anything we can do as a meeting chair or audience member to get a rambler back on track or do you just have to endure it? 

Answer: The good news is, you never have to endure it. However, there is a fine balance between keeping your meeting on track and showing respect to all members of your audience at all times, AND interrupting the ramblers, serial interrupters, or dominant people so that you can continue your meeting the way you had intended.

The key element here is that you must interrupt them….but in a respectful way.

Here are some professional, polite,  and respectful ways to interrupt your interrupter and get your meeting back on track to YOUR agenda:

• [Jump in and say…] “I’m just going to interject for a moment to say that I understand your concerns, and I think it’s important to address them. We have a lot to cover in this meeting, we don’t have a ton of time, and we have to stay focused on our deliverables, so would you mind if we discussed your concern after the
  meeting?”

• “I’m sorry to interrupt, I just want to understand….do you have a SPECIFIC question?”

• “John, I think I know where you’re going with that comment, but we have a fairly specific agenda for this meeting and we need to stick to it. Can I connect with you later to address your concerns/ideas?”

• “I know that your points are valid, but they aren’t the focus of this meeting. Would you be open to sending me your points, and we’ll set up some time at our next meeting to discuss them…or even before the next meeting?”

• [If the interrupter is bringing up a valid point that DOES need to be discussed]: “Thank you for bringing that up. It wasn’t part of our agenda, but I see the value of discussing this. Let’s get through some of the initial parts of our meeting, and we’ll come back to this.”

You can rest assured that if YOU’RE annoyed by this individual, other people in your audience will be as well. However, it’s always important to stay polite and respectful, even if they’re annoying you. By respectfully interrupting the individual, sharing WHY you’re interrupting them and how they can share their concerns in other ways besides that particular meeting, you will also gain respect and trust from your audience. They will appreciate that you’re keeping control of the meeting, and they’ll also appreciate that no matter how annoying they feel the interrupter is, you continue to treat them with respect and professionalism.

Who knows, maybe one day one of your favorite colleagues will be the annoying audience member. By showcasing your professionalism, they will at least be able to trust that whenever that day arrives, you’ll treat them with respect.

Want to get more ideas on how to run a meeting smoothly and effectively? Check out How To Command Attention at a Meeting as a Business Woman, an article that I’m featured in from Carleton University Women in Business Association.