Mark Twain once said that there is nothing so annoying as having two people talking when you are busy interrupting. All joking aside, when we are talking, we don’t like to be interrupted, but when we are listening, we sometimes feel it’s necessary to do it.
Before we look at different ways of interrupting a conversation, we must clarify on how to get the speaker’s attention. For instance, a simple gesture like raising a hand or gently clearing the throat could help. Remember, timing is key, as we do not want to come across as being impolite. If we feel the need to interrupt, we could say:
Excuse me for interrupting, but…
Can I just mention something?
Excuse me, I’d like to say something.
Can I stop you there for a moment?
I don’t want to interrupt, however…
If we want to add information we may use:
May I add…
Could I just mention…
I would like to add…
Let me add …
One thing that I should add is…
Other times we need to interrupt, to ask our conversation partner to expand on his or her last point:
Could you clarify that?
Would you mind explaining that a little more?
Could you tell us a little bit more about that?
Sorry, could you explain that a little more?
Could you clarify that last point, before we move on?
Often, people want to interrupt our conversation and we have to politely allow them to. Try using:
No problem. Go ahead.
Sure. What do you think?
That is alright, what is it that you want to say?
Of course, tell me what you think.
And finally, after being interrupted, we have to find a way of successfully returning to our previous conversation:
As I was saying, I think…
I would like to return to my point.
To get back to what I was saying, I feel…
Continuing where I left off…
I hope these tips of how to politely interrupt a conversation will help you.
Click on the image to watch a video about how to Interrupt in English
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