Meetings
How to sound confident in meetings in English
This is for you if…
- You wait for the perfect moment to speak and the moment passes.
- You get interrupted, then can't find your way back in.
- You replay what you should have said for hours after the call.
Confidence in meetings is not a feeling you summon. It is a small set of openers, holders, and closers you rehearse until they survive nerves. This page gives you those phrases and the order to use them in.
The three moves
- Open: claim the floor in one short sentence before you begin your point.
- Hold: keep the floor when you're interrupted — politely, without losing the thread.
- Close: end on the recommendation, not on reassurance.
Openers that buy you the room
Before
"Um, can I just quickly say something, sorry…"
After
"I want to add one thing before we move on."
Before
"Sorry, maybe I'm wrong but…"
After
"I see this differently. Here's why."
Before
"I had a small comment if that's okay…"
After
"I have a recommendation on this. Two sentences."
Holders for when you're interrupted
Before
"Oh — sorry, you go ahead."
After
"Let me finish the point — it's one more sentence."
Before
"(go silent and lose the floor)"
After
"I'll come back to your point. First, the number."
Closers that land
Before
"…so yeah, that's kind of what I was thinking, I don't know, what do you think?"
After
"My recommendation: move the launch by one week. I'll send the revised plan today."
How to rehearse
Pick one meeting on your calendar this week. Write your opener and closer in advance — actually write them, do not just think them. Read them out loud three times before the call. The phrases will be there when you need them.
Your next step
Ready to improve how you're perceived at work?
Take this further in private 1:1 coaching with Darcy — or explore the programmes built around the work you actually do.
More notes like this.
Occasional, considered notes from Darcy on executive communication. First name and email only.