How to speak up in meetings when English is your second language
7 min read · Reviewed 19 Sept 2026
You know your subject. In your first language you would have spoken three times by now. In English, by the time you have built the sentence, the conversation has moved on, so you stay quiet, and the meeting ends with your idea still in your head. If this is familiar, the problem is not your English level. It is timing, and timing can be prepared.
Why fast meetings are hard
Group conversation among fluent speakers leaves very short gaps between turns, often a fraction of a second. People get into those gaps by starting to speak before they have finished planning. In a second language you tend to plan the whole sentence first, which means you are always a little late.
There is a fix. Separate getting the turn from making the point. Entry phrases can be automatic. Once you have the floor, people will wait for you.
Before the meeting
- Read the agenda and choose one or two items
Decide where you have something to add. Do not try to contribute to everything.
- Prepare your point as one sentence plus one reason
Say it out loud once. Speaking it, not just thinking it, is what makes it available under pressure.
- Prepare the vocabulary
If the topic needs three or four specific terms, check them and their pronunciation beforehand.
During the meeting
- Speak in the first ten minutes
Even a short question or an agreement counts. The longer you wait, the higher the pressure on your first contribution. After you have spoken once, the second time is much easier.
- Use an entry phrase to take the turn
“Can I add something here?” “One point on that.” “Before we move on…” Say it at the end of someone's sentence, slightly louder than feels natural. Then take a breath and make your point.
- Keep it short and answer-first
One point, one reason, stop. Short contributions are easier to build, and other people remember them better.
- Use the structure of the meeting
On video calls, raise your hand. It reserves your turn without the split-second timing. If there is a chair, tell them beforehand that you have a point on item three.
- Use the chat as support, not as a hiding place
Posting a link or a number in the chat is useful. Moving all your contributions to the chat means people never hear you, and being heard is how people come to see you as a contributor.
Phrases worth making automatic
- To enter: “Can I add something?” / “One thought on that.” / “Can I come in here?”
- To hold the floor while you think: “Let me put it this way.” / “Give me a second to find the right words.”
- To return to a topic that has passed: “Can I go back to the point about pricing? I have one thing to add.”
- To build on someone else: “I agree with Sara, and I'd add…”
- To check: “Can I make sure I understood the decision?”
The “go back” phrase is especially useful. It means that missing the gap is not fatal: you can take a moment to prepare and then reopen the topic. People do this all the time, and it is completely acceptable.
What helps in the long run
Speaking in meetings is a performance skill, like playing an instrument: understanding it is not the same as doing it. What improves it is saying real work sentences out loud, regularly, in short sessions, and then hearing what you actually said. Five focused minutes a day is more useful than an hour at the weekend.
Your accent is not the problem. Colleagues adapt to accents within minutes. What they cannot adapt to is a contribution that never arrives or a point that is hidden in the middle of a long sentence. Work on timing, structure and pace, and leave your accent alone unless people regularly misunderstand specific words.