Have you ever been in that awkward position where you’re having a nice conversation with someone but you have to cut it short and you don’t know how to do that without being rude?
It could happen that the conversation is not even pleasing, and you wish you could storm out and leave the other person hanging, but then it’s a professional situation and you need to keep your cool.
There are suggested ways to go about this politely and gracefully, according to relevant experts.
Indeed advises that you may use exit lines to highlight that you intend to end the conversation. It is said that you may use phrases such as, “It was a pleasure catching up with you,” “Thank you for taking the time,” “Please don’t let me keep you from your work,” and “It’s time for me to get back to work.”
The above-mentioned publication also mentions that turning points or “lulls” in a conversation can indicate new topics or the end of a discussion, making them ideal times to disengage from the discussion with certain phrases and words such as “so”, well”, “anyway,” etc.
According to Speak Confident English, if you can, you could introduce someone else into the conversation so that you can then sneak out of it and leave.
It is also stated that you could just find a believable excuse, as the well-known ‘I’m only going to grab a drink’ statement sometimes gets tricky, because what if they also need one? “They may follow you or ask you to bring them a drink when you come back.”
Also see: How to keep a conversation going
