Biz lady can't finish a sentence w/o being interrupt--

I hold up a hand, and say LOUDLY: "Please allow me to finish" and then I keep talking. You may feel like a jackass, but just do it. I honestly don't think it's necessarily deliberate sexism, but that interrupters are SO FOCUSED on what they want to say that they can't see anything else.

I kind of agree with your SO that fighting it off every time is the most likely to be effective. But I also agree with you that you will come across as abrasive. But hey, what you're doing now isn't working, so why not try something different. A slightly gentler version of this would be to listen to what the person who interrupted you says, and then redirect with "As I was saying..." Or when you interrupt your interrupter back say, "Oh, sorry, I wasn't finished." You're not sorry, obviously, but if softens the statement. Or what about taking aside the person who interrupted you (after the meeting) and asking them if they realized that they interrupted you and asking them to not do it in the future? Just, like, "Leslie, I don't know if you realized you did it, but you interrupted me in the meeting, and you actually do it pretty often. Could you help me out by trying not to do that in the future?" This also kind of works like a warning that you're going to be calling them out in the future. It's a totally sucky situation, and it's going to be really hard, maybe impossible to change. * I'm a woman who has been described as "abrasive" by female colleagues and "terrifying" by male colleagues, fwiw. I consider myself to be eminently mild-mannered.

I hold up a hand, and say LOUDLY: "Please allow me to finish" and then I keep talking. Yes, seconding this. I used to be interrupted ALL THE FUCKING TIME at work, which resulted in incorrect information being presented to trustees and high-level advisers and whatnot, actually damaging things instead of clarifying them. I simply do not allow interruptions anymore and have been so strict with sticking to my PLEASE DO NOT INTERRUPT ME TO PROVIDE INCORRECT INFORMATION guns that people in meetings now automatically look to me when finishing their own topics to make sure that they've spoken correctly. It helps that I lean more towards speaking in bullet points in professional situations instead of doing the storyteller/outline thing that a lot of people in my field tend to do.

Assert yourself...demand to finish what you are saying. You get trampled upon because others see they can do this.

Sometimes I just keep talking as if they hadn't interrupted. If they keep going (which is typical) I have been known to say (firmly) "LET ME FINISH" at louder volume. That generally shuts 'em up. No apology from you is appropriate or necessary. Joan Rivers once referred to her onstage demeanor as that of a lion tamer cracking the whip. Not advocating a level of abrasiveness a la Joan but sometimes dealing with people is like dealing with dogs with big brains. Raise your volume a bit, lower the tone, and SLOW DOWN. Woof. Good luck.

You need to take up space, both verbally and physically. Women are not really taught that it's ok (and at times necessary) to "http://elitedaily.com/women/growth-proliferation-shrinking-woman-taking-space-woman/" and frequently are taught that it is out of line if we do take up space. Sit up straight or stand when making your point, spread out your arms and lean into the table/group. Speak loudly and firmly -- never apologize or pre-deprecate your own statements. Keep talking when someone interrupts, holding up your hand (to indicate "wait a moment") if necessary. Look at and direct your comments at the meeting facilitator. If someone just needs to interject, say "Bob, I'm not quite done" and continue speaking - do not wait for his/her agreement to continue. Lose phrases like "I'd just like to..." "If you wouldn't mind..." "Sorry but..." "It would be great if..." These phrases come from the assumption that your statement/concerns are, at best, equally valid to theirs, and that your ability to make your statement is dependent on their approval of your right to do so. Clearly, not everyone is doing this mental calculus in their heads all the time, but it does subconsciously imply passivity. You have to speak (and interrupt the interrupters) as though you expect them to comply and them not complying is so absurd that it never even crossed your mind. Take up space.

I am a woman. I don't get interrupted, or get interrupted infrequently. Here is why I think that is: 1. I speak very authoritatively and in a lower register when I am saying something important. 2. I don't interrupt others. 3. If someone tries to start talking over me when I am clearly in the middle of a point and they are being rude then I CONTINUE TALKING. I will speak a little louder (never shouty) if need be but I just keep talking as though someone wasn't rudely trying to interrupt me. Basically, I don't LET people interrupt me. I mean, it is FASCINATING that they feel like they need to talk right at that moment, but *I* am talking right now so I am going to continue talking. 4. If I DO get successfully interupted I will interject as soon as possible (the second they finish a sentence) and say "Before we continue with your point I am going to finish what I was saying first." and then I continue what I was saying. I'm not ASKING if I can resume. I am TELLING. I also have the luxury (seriously) of having the reputation of being able to be a bitch if pushed too far. This has been intentionally crafted. I am lovely and friendly and a great team player and respectful, but if you continuously insist upon acting like an ass I WILL call you on it, and it will get awkward... for you. I am just fine with having some people not like me, and I am just fine having some people think I am a huge bitch. It is never the people I actually work with that think that about me, never the people who actually know me or have any sort of impact on my life or career, so who cares. That is the price I pay to be able to treated as an equal, full participant, and valuable. Sad that I live in a world where I have to be perceived as being bitchy in order to be treated respectfully...

This drives me crazy, too. It's hard to change difficult workplace cultural norms, especially when it centers around men and women being treated differently in non-measureable ways. Office culture comes from the top down; if you can get HR or your department lead or whoever to issue the new let-others-finish policy (or back people up when they're interrupted), that's one thing, but you'll come across as thin-skinned and—I hate to say it—shrill if you do it yourself. Extra-unfair, but that's how it is. And, depending on your work culture, it might even (wrongly!) signal that you can't keep up in a fast-paced environment (that's how it would be at my office; it's expected that everyone will present themselves in a very aggro way all the time, and it's a sign of how passionate and smart we all are...or something). So I fight it every time. I'm also a woman, and a teeny-tiny babyfaced one to boot. 1) Most direct and neutral: Just say "Let me finish, please". 2) Slightly rude but extremely effective: Hold your hand up to acknowledge the interrupter and just keep talking, until they stop. Almost no one will keep it up; the key is the acknowledgement that you know they have something to say but you are still talking. 3) Passive aggressive: Stop talking completely, wait for the interruptor to finish, then just pick back up where you left off as though they never said anything. This is a nuclear option and is getting into nanny territory, but for chronic interruptors it can work over time.

Don't ask "can I just..." Don't request "please let me...". STATE "please don't interrupt." and then continue. (This works for me - also a woman who gets interrupted)