opinion

Five ways to politely deal with people who interrupt you.

Fellow women: who hasn’t been in a situation where you just want to make your solid, well-thought-out point, but a man-baby is yelling opinions at you?

Obviously, that’s a rhetorical question. If you’re a woman in the workplace, it probably happens to you on a daily basis.

Luckily, there are some polite solutions to man-terrupting. And they don’t involve screaming at the top of your lungs until the other person stops speaking (though that would be very satisfying).

As outlined by The Muse, here are five to try.

 1. Don’t do anything.

“As crazy (and infuriating) as it sounds, your best course of action might be to just take a deep breath and let it go—particularly if it happens just once or very infrequently,” the article says.

It’s a technique Hillary Clinton used on more than one occasion during this week’s debate with Donald Trump. A tactic, we assume, she observed from Michelle Obama’s motto: “When they go low, we go high.”

2. Tell your audience you’d like to speak without being interrupted.

Well, not in those words, exactly. But often, people want to interrupt you because you haven’t quite explained everything yet, even though you know you’re going to explain it all later.

The Muse suggests saying something like, “Some of these ideas are a little half-baked, and I’m definitely looking forward to your thoughts on these! But, I think our discussion will be much more productive if I can get my thoughts out there first, and then we can open things up for questions and suggestions.”

Want more life hacks? Check out Mamamia’s suggestions for keeping calm in the workplace.

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3. Push through the pain.

You know those moments during the debate when Trump tried to interrupt Clinton and she just kept talking? Surprisingly effective.

“Refuse to pause for interruptions, and instead continue moving forward with your intended spiel,” The Muse suggests. Just like a game of chicken.

4. Take on the perpetrator’s suggestions.

Yes, being interrupted is annoying. But use the other person’s annoying intrusions to your advantage and ask them to expand on their thoughts. You’re likely to gain more insight into the topic at hand and potentially come up with a better solution.

5. Tell them to shut up.

Okay, don’t use those words. But sometimes you just need to let them know it’s your time to talk.

The Muse suggests saying something like, “John, I value your suggestions. But, could you let me finish my thoughts and then we’ll have an open conversation about them? Thank you.”

Everyone wants to be heard. So next time someone has the audacity to interrupt you, use these tips to deal with it gracefully.

This story originally appeared on Spring St.