5 ways to end a virtual conversation

What is it about Zoom meetings that let some people go on and on and on? It was easier to end a conversation when we were in person. All you had to do was just look at your phone (or watch), and most people got the hint. Or you could try the old “walk them to the door” trick. Here are five techniques to redirect, or end, virtual conversations.

Set expectations at the start

“I have to end this call at 2:30. Are you / Is everyone OK with that?”

Foreshadow the ending

Preview your departure ahead of time with a statement like:

“I promised to do something / meet someone / clean my ears, but until then, I’d love to talk about this.”

This technique is especially helpful when you’re delivering bad news, even if that bad news is that you’re ending this boring conversation.

Redirect

When someone is sucking up air time, it’s time to redirect or end the conversation, just don’t call out or shame them. There’s no need to be punitive to socially unaware people.

“I’m sorry to interrupt, but I just want to bring up timing, so we can keep the meeting on track.”

When you bring up parameters, people have a structure to work with.

Use visuals or virtual meeting tools

I’m not suggesting you just click “End Meeting For All” and blame it on an internet outage, but you can manage someone who is dominating discussion with visual cues, such as the “T” for “Timeout” gesture, or holding up a clock.

Continue later

It’s much easier to end a conversation if you’re not actually ending it. Find a way to continue offline…and actually, follow up.

“What you’re saying is valuable, but we’re off-topic / we need this time to focus on … can we take this offline?”

While the person may not like being cut off, at least they won’t be perceived as being devalued.

If they’re a sensitive person, it can help to set a time to follow up when redirecting, to show extra consideration.