How to Handle a Dominating Voice in Meetings (Without Being Rude)

This is the transcript of The Refreshing Leadership Podcast episode: How to Handle a Dominating Voice in Meetings (Without Being Rude), published on 11th May 2026.

We've all been there. That slightly awkward feeling when you are in a meeting, a group setting, or even a social setting, and somebody is dominating the conversation - or they are derailing it, rambling.

Everyone else has a lot of politeness. They want to seem engaged and encourage others to contribute. But they're not really sure how to nudge the conversation or the meeting back on track.

It can be quite an uncomfortable feeling when you know that others are experiencing the same thing, but nobody's really doing anything about it, or feels comfortable to do so.

Welcome to the Refreshing Leadership Podcast with me, Maya Gudka, where I help you refresh your thinking in both life and work.

The listener question

I had a listener question that I wanted to do an episode on, because this is a common topic that comes up. I have shared previous episodes about this, but this one is slightly more complicated.

Here's the listener question:

"Hi Maya. I keep experiencing meetings where somebody unintentionally dominates the conversation, and you can almost sense the rest of the group sitting back and disengaging, but nobody actually interrupts. I find it surprisingly hard to step in, even though I know it would help the meeting. How can you interrupt in a way that serves the meeting without damaging relationships, especially when hierarchy is involved?"

The two elements at play

I think this is a great question because there are two key elements here.

There is the art of interruption - the skill involved in being able to facilitate successfully and get the most out of people's time, and really make the most of everybody being there.

But then there's separately a piece around how you do this within a hierarchy, where you may not have all of the authority and power, and there may be consequences to interrupting those who are more senior, or they may not take well to it.

I coach across a lot of cultures, so I'm really sensitive to the fact that there are some cultures where it is not appropriate to interrupt if there is a hierarchy, and that this can be damaging to your career.

Start with your locus of control

This is a useful time to introduce what I always have near me, which is my locus of control.

This is the stuff that is within your control in any given issue. There is a lot of stuff that's not in your control, and over time in coaching we can increase what is within your control. But at any given time, there are only certain elements which are - and so let's start with those.

Setting up the meeting for success

The first thing within your control is positioning and setting up the meeting for success.

In coaching, we do this quite formally - it's called contracting. I will directly say things to my clients like: if I think we're going off track, I request permission in advance to interrupt you and to ask you if this is necessary in order to move you forward towards your goals. And if at that point you say, no, it's really important, I need to say this, then of course I'm not going to stop you. I'm here to help you move forward.

But you may at that point agree, and that interruption might feel clunky in the moment - I request permission to do it so that we can get the most out of your time here.

I do this in group coaching. I do this in team meetings. There is a way of doing this that is appropriate for the environment you are in.

It may be something more like: "I'm conscious that we have a busy agenda today and a lot of important items to get through. So I just encourage everybody to be mindful of time. If I think we have gone off track and it's not in service of the team goals, I request permission to gently bring us back."

If you are able to do that, people are not going to take it personally if and when you do need to interrupt them - because they will have been well prepared for this to happen. They know the meaning and the reason why you're doing it. You are not doing it to cut them off and be rude. You're doing it for everybody's best interest.

I don't think I've ever asked permission for that in a group or team setting when somebody said, no, don't do that. Because everybody is short of time. Everybody wants to get the most out of the meeting.

Inviting discussion with time awareness

The next part is when you are inviting discussion, because a huge part of meetings is being able to have healthy discussion.

If you have a degree of control over this part, what I would encourage is that you set people up to be time-aware when they are putting their contributions on the table.

Something like: "I want to hear everybody's voice and give everybody an opportunity to have a say, as well as get through the other points on the agenda. So I will just let you know when you have spoken for a couple of minutes, and ideally everybody has a couple of minutes."

I do rough versions of this all the time, and it's never precise. It can be a bit messy. People initially feel like you're giving them a time limit, and they can feel a little bit backed up by that. But once they see how effective it is in making sure that everybody is succinct and mindful and aware of each other's time, they usually really get on board with it.

And it's not strict. If somebody's got something really important to say and they're saying it well, you're not going to cut them off at 120 seconds. You're going to let them finish what they need to say. But it gives so much more structure.

As you'll see, neither of those first two approaches are specifically requiring you to directly interrupt someone. They're just paving the way for smoother, more time-effective conversations - and for interruption if you need it. You've positioned interruption as just part of serving the team's needs.

When you still need to interrupt

Now, you're not always going to be able to do that perfectly. Sometimes you're still going to need to interrupt. Or it could be that you are part of a very archaic meeting that has always been done in a certain way, and you don't have the opportunity to do that positioning upfront.

So there is still an opportunity for you to notice that a meeting is drifting off track and do something about it.

The first option is a bit of gentle gesturing to the individual - a gentle hand raise, an eye nod - so that they realise they might have been going on for a little bit. I will sometimes do this in coaching. I will just do a little gentle hand raise so the client knows I want to come in at this point.

However, we are not necessarily dealing with the most self-aware people. So when you are doing that gesturing, they may not pick up on it.

What to actually say

Here's one example of what you might say. Every organisation has its culture, so tweak it as needed.

"Sorry to interrupt. I'm aware that this is a rich conversation and something that we could delve into in a lot of depth, and it might need some separate time to get into some of that offline. I am conscious though that we have quite a few other agenda items that we still need to get through, or that we need to hear from some other individuals. So would it be all right if we park this and turn to some of these other items? And then if we've got time at the end, we can revert to this or take it offline - it's clearly something that there's a lot to discuss on."

That's a way of hopefully doing it in a way that doesn't feel offensive to people, and is encouraging of the discussion that has taken place. And it might feel like something that, even if there is a hierarchy in place, is doable.

Increasing your control over time

I have worked with enough organisations to know it's not always going to be possible. So let's think about other ways of increasing what is within your control over time.

One way is finding other ways to land your feedback. This could be giving feedback to the individual through some sort of 360 process, or if you have informal opportunities and feel safe to give that feedback, you could do it in a one-to-one.

If that really didn't feel possible, then you might need to share that feedback with somebody more senior.

You could also offer to chair the meeting. You could offer to set the agenda and introduce the meeting. See what else you can do to start to have a more active role, particularly at the start of meetings.

When it's out of your hands

Once you've tried all of those things, if none of that is possible, that's no longer within your control. And that's where in coaching, we sit back and relax - because we have done what's in our corner.

We need to stop trying to take accountability for something that is not our problem. If the individual doesn't have the self-awareness and isn't open to feedback, then there is a broader management issue there, in that managerial style, that will need to be addressed. And that goes a little bit beyond just a communication issue inside meetings.

Using this with your team

If this is of help, please share it with somebody else that you think could benefit.

You could share this with people inside your team and say: I came across this, and here are some tips for managing each other and holding each other to account. Why don't we try some of these over the next few weeks?

When I'm with my coaching clients, I always say to them: use me as a passport to try new things. Say, my coach said this, or my coach suggested that. I'm suggesting something similar here - share the idea, brainstorm, and see how you can make your meetings more effective.

I look forward to connecting with you next time.

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About Maya

Maya Gudka is an executive coach specialising in C-suite career progression and leadership development. She works with senior leaders in major organisations on strategic career planning, executive presence, and building sustainable influence. Maya hosts The Refreshing Leadership Podcast, which ranks in the top 2% of podcasts globally and has nearly 300 episodes exploring the challenges faced by ambitious professionals.