If you need to win the room, start by knowing the names in it.

Names are the smallest possible signal that you noticed somebody exists, which is why they do so much. A room where you know who you are talking to is a room where you can ask for something, and a room full of strangers is one where you are only ever addressing the group. Nobody is persuaded by a crowd address.

Before the next meeting, tryout or shift, learn three names and use them. Repeat a name back when you hear it so it sticks. It is almost embarrassingly effective and it costs you nothing at all.