Staying Calm in Challenging Meetings: Here’s How
It’s Tuesday morning. You sit down for your weekly team meeting, ready to put forward your points in a controlled, logical way. But a colleague refuses to see your point of view and seems to be blocking you at every turn. All your carefully planned arguments fly out of the window. You fail to make your case, and you leave the room feeling resentful and frustrated.
If any part of this resonates with you, you’re not alone. 92% of UK employees report being irritated by meetings at work (HRZone), and 49% say that colleagues who aren’t perceived to be pulling their weight makes them angry (ACAS).
Keeping your cool in meetings and challenging conversations is genuinely hard. But there is a simple technique that helps, and the good news is that the more you practise it, the easier it gets.
The power of breathwork
Breathwork is an effective way to shift your mood, change your thought processes, and improve your performance. Learning to focus on your breathing is a core skill and a foundation of mental fitness.
When we encounter a real or perceived threat, the body triggers its fight, flight, or freeze response. It tries to take in as much oxygen as possible by speeding up your breathing rate, which in turn increases your heart rate, tenses your muscles, and narrows your focus to your immediate surroundings. It’s then very difficult to think clearly and logically.
The opposite is also true. Lengthening your out-breath activates the parasympathetic nervous system, creating a sense of calm and control which is the ideal platform for reasoned thinking and balanced decision-making.
How to practise
Focus on your breath going in and out, counting silently so that your out-breath is noticeably longer than your in-breath. Practise regularly when you’re on your own, so that when you need it, in a meeting or just before a big presentation, it’s easy to tap into.
To summarise:
- Practise your breathing regularly
- Make your out-breath longer than your in-breath
- In a meeting, if you feel tension rising, pause, breathe, and choose your response
Do that consistently, and you’ll find yourself keeping calm, making clearer decisions and communicating with greater confidence.
By Lucy Chaplin
About Lucy
Lucy Chaplin PCC is an Executive Coach based in Sevenoaks. Working on a 1-1 or group basis, Lucy helps leaders build confidence, improve decision-making, manage stress, and separate the pressures of work from the rest of life, so they can be at their best for the people around them. Through a blend of proven coaching techniques, methodologies and tools, she supports leaders to inspire their teams, strengthen culture, and shape the future success of their business. She also helps women have a successful return to work after maternity leave. A Professional Certified Coach with the International Coaching Federation, Lucy holds a Postgraduate Certificate in Business and Personal Coaching from the University of Chester, and has worked with leaders across a wide range of sectors including technology, retail, finance, charity, and public health.
You can book a free consultation with her here: https://calendly.com/lucychaplin/free-consultation
Recent Comments