Phrases That Take Charge

You do not need fifty phrases. You need five that work every time:

• "Before we dive in, let me outline the key points." — sets the agenda before anyone else can
• "I want to build on that." — lets you enter any conversation without interrupting
• "Let's park that for now and come back to it." — politely shuts down tangents
• "So what I'm hearing is..." — shows leadership by summarizing
• "What's our next step?" — forces decisions and ends circular talk.