A habit of interrupting can make another person’s thoughts seem less complete than they are.

Being cut off repeatedly does not just cost you the sentence. It changes how your thinking sounds to a room, since half-finished ideas come across as tentative, and after a while the person being interrupted starts shortening what they say before anyone else can. The listener concludes that this person has less to offer, when what they have is less runway. That impression is manufactured by the interruptions and then blamed on the speaker.

Count to two before you respond to anyone this week. And if you notice someone consistently getting cut off, handing the floor back to them is a small correction with a long effect.