A person can hold little formal authority and still shape an entire room.

Rooms are shaped by who sets the temperature, and that is rarely determined by title. Attention, steadiness, the ability to ask the right question or to be honest first, all of these move a group more than formal standing does. This is available to you regardless of position.

In your next meeting, notice who actually shifts the tone and how. Then try one of those moves yourself. Naming what everyone is avoiding is usually the most powerful and the least used.