How to interrupt in fast-paced meetings in the UK (without sounding rude)

Do you ever find yourself sitting quietly in meetings, even though you have lots of ideas to share? You’re not alone. Many international professionals struggle to speak up in fast-paced UK workplace discussions, especially when certain colleagues dominate the conversation.

This week, I worked with a client who was experiencing exactly this challenge. He works in a tech company and was frustrated because he had valuable contributions to make, but found it easier to stay quiet. At first, he thought his hesitation was about making mistakes and appearing unprofessional. But when we dug deeper, we discovered the real issue: he didn’t know how to interrupt politely while others were speaking.

In an ideal world, everyone would have an equal opportunity to share their thoughts in meetings. But the reality in fast-paced businesses is that certain people often dominate discussions, and you won’t always be asked for your opinion. This means you need to be more assertive—but assertive doesn’t mean rude. You can interrupt in a way that’s polite and respectful.

It’s important to note that what’s considered polite in terms of interrupting and turn-taking varies between cultures. In this post, I’ll share techniques that work specifically in UK professional culture.

If you interrupt by sharing your ideas directly, it can seem abrupt, random, or even impolite. More importantly, your idea will lose impact because everyone’s attention is on the current speaker, NOT on what you’re saying.

Instead, use polite phrases to get people’s attention first:

Ask permission:

• “Can I jump in here?”
• “Can I add something here?”
• “May I ask a question?”

Asking permission attracts everyone’s attention, and when they give you permission to speak, they’ll be more engaged with what you have to say.

Apologise for interrupting:

We’re in the UK, and we love to say sorry! You could use phrases like:

• “Sorry to interrupt, but…”
• “Sorry to interrupt, but can I add something here?”

Build on someone else’s point:

If your colleague John says something and you want to add a related idea, try:

• “Building on what John said, I think…”

I particularly like this approach because it connects your point to the discussion, shows it’s relevant, and demonstrates respect for others’ contributions. You’re not dismissing their ideas, you’re adding to them.

These phrases don’t just make your interruptions more polite; they draw everyone’s attention to you, ensures they’re listening, and so your point has more impact.

Before you even use those polite phrases, you can use body language to signal that you have something to say.

In face-to-face meetings:

• Lean forward to show you’re engaged and want to speak
• Make eye contact with the person leading the meeting (they might even ask if you’d like to share without you having to interrupt)
• Raise your hand slightly, not like you’re in school, just a subtle gesture to indicate you have something to contribute

In online meetings:

Body language signals don’t work as well in virtual meetings, especially during fast-paced discussions or when content is being shared on screen. This is particularly true if people have their cameras off (which I don’t recommend—showing your face demonstrates engagement).

In online settings, simply take yourself off mute and find the right moment to interrupt politely.

Your promoted colleague probably got ahead because they aren’t afraid to speak up. They share ideas in meetings even when they haven’t formed them completely. They contribute, ask questions, present, and are noticed by senior leaders.

Meanwhile, those who don’t get promoted often hold back. They have the skills and solutions, but stay quiet because they’re trying to create the perfect sentence in their mind. By the time they’re ready, the meeting has moved on, and their colleague with the less polished idea has already been heard.

Sometimes they do speak up but seem nervous—either saying too few words or too many, appearing confused. These nerves might be about their English, but colleagues and senior management could interpret this as a lack of confidence in their ideas and solutions.

Is this fair? No. But confidence is so important! When you seem confident, a few mistakes or an accent don’t matter. Confidence is what people notice, and it signals that you’re ready for promotion.

Technical professionals tend to communicate in facts, data, and solutions. That’s valuable, but leaders need to do more than deliver information, they need to build relationships with colleagues, teams, clients, and stakeholders.

Leaders must read the room, understand how people are reacting, and grasp what stakeholders actually care about.

In UK professional culture specifically, this includes:

• understanding indirect communication styles: British people don’t always say exactly what they mean.
• knowing when to make small talk, how much is appropriate, and what to discuss can determine the direction of a meeting.
• recognising phrases that soften disagreement: When your manager says “I see what you mean” or “That’s something to consider, but…” and then moves on to someone else, they’re politely dismissing your idea, not affirming it.

Your promoted colleague has probably figured out these cultural nuances; not because they’re a native speaker, but because they’ve observed how people communicate and have used this to their advantage.

In fast-paced discussions, it can be hard to find a moment to speak. There often aren’t many pauses, but you need to find even a micro-pause—a short break between people’s points—and use one of those polite phrases.

If you interrupt someone in the middle of their sentence, they might get annoyed, think it’s rude, and dismiss your point.

Listen for intonation patterns:

Intonation is the rise and fall of the voice. Generally in English, our voice rises towards the middle of a sentence and then falls at the end. When the voice goes down, it signals that the speaker has come to the end of a complete thought, and that’s a good time to interrupt.

For example, imagine I’m speaking in a meeting:

“I think we need to reschedule next week’s meeting because we have a huge workload.”

There’s a micro-pause after “meeting,” but if you interrupted there, I’d be annoyed because I haven’t completed my sentence. Wait until the voice goes down at the end: “…huge workload.” Then you can say, “Can I just add something here?” That feels much more natural.

I might have had more to say, but because I came to the end of a point, your interruption doesn’t feel impolite—you’re just being assertive.

Practise listening:

Even if you’re not speaking in a meeting, start listening for these patterns. Notice when people pause, when their voice goes up and down, and identify times where you could potentially interrupt.

Going back to my client. We practised these techniques through roleplays. He practised saying the phrases,  finding the right moment to jump in and build his confidence.  Now he’s ready to practise in real meetings.

This session wasn’t about focusing on grammar and vocabulary—it was about giving him practical tools he could use at work straight away.

Here’s what I want you to remember: Your ideas are valuable, so don’t stay quiet!

Even if you’ve been quiet in meetings up until now, it’s never too late to start speaking up. At first, it might feel a little uncomfortable and will take practice. But the more you do it, the more natural it will become. Your colleagues will start to get used to you speaking more, and eventually, you might not have to interrupt anymore—they’ll simply ask for your opinion because they want to hear it.

Your Next Steps

Start by observing and noticing:

• How do your colleagues interrupt?
• What phrases do they use?
• Where are the pauses and moments of falling intonation where you could interrupt?

Then set yourself a goal of asking just one question in your next meeting, using these techniques: asking permission, using body language, and finding the right moment.

Remember, if you want to feel more confident, doing the thing that scares you is what will help you build that confidence. Do it, no matter how imperfect it feels. With time, you’ll feel much more confident.

Are you looking for one-to-one support to improve your workplace communication? I offer personalised coaching sessions to help international professionals thrive in UK workplaces.

One-to-one programmes start at £180/month

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