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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
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Polly Hudson

There are three ways to shut down an annoying conversation – but are they too brutal?

Three people in a meeting wearing business attire - two women seated and a man talking down to them
“Let me stop you there …” Photograph: Tetra Images/Getty Images/Tetra images RF

The last thing you need in a meeting that could have been an email is attachments. Sadly, it’s sod’s law that there’s one oblivious person in every work gathering who raises extra, unnecessary queries using as many words as possible, and holds everybody up. Now, Forbes magazine has helpfully supplied three phrases business leaders can use to stop rambling questions from hijacking or lengthening proceedings, without embarrassing the hijacking lengthener.

But obviously it’s not only the office where we encounter those seemingly hellbent on derailing interactions, so can we steal Forbes’ gameplan for boring chat in real life?

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