Reclaim it in 10 seconds without making it a scene

Your point landed at 10:12, as you'd intended. The room stayed quiet. At 10:19, he delivered the same thing with more volume and a sweeping hand motion, and everyone nodded as if the notion had just occurred to them. You have roughly ten seconds. Say nothing, and by lunch he owns the idea outright. Speak in the wrong way and you're the one who has made the meeting awkward.

The common moves are to drop it or to snap back with "that's what I just said." Dropping it costs you the idea. The snap-back tends to cost you the room, since research on the likability penalty has repeatedly shown that the same correction sounds assertive coming from a man and demanding coming from a woman. The lines below steer clear of both traps in Baltimore's meeting rooms. They restore your name to the idea and keep the discussion moving forward.

First Mid-meeting, he rephrases your idea and presents it as his.

A tempting reply: "Five minutes ago, I said exactly that."

Better: "Happy that came through, "Picking up on my earlier comment, here's where I'd take it next."

Why it works: you staked your claim in a single clause rather than a grievance, then did the one thing only the original thinker can do, which is take the idea further. Everyone in the room attributes the idea to its author, and nobody has to take sides.

Second The chair credits him by name

A tempting move: grin and let it go.

A stronger option: "Appreciate it, though that's the very point I started with." "Mark's angle on the timeline is a useful addition, and I'm glad to see it."

Why it works: it's specific, gracious and hard to dispute. You named your contribution and gave him something genuine to build on. No one can read that as territorial, and the chair will likely be more careful about attribution next time.

Third This is the third time it's occurred this month.

A tempting response: bring it up right there in the meeting, and do it pointedly.

A better approach: catch them afterward, privately, and say "I've found my contributions carry more weight when you echo them." "Going forward, could you attribute it, something like 'as she said'?"

Why it works: you've offered him an easy, low-cost phrase that puts you on the record. Most colleagues will accept it, perhaps a little sheepishly. The one who refuses has shown you exactly where he stands.

Fourth Your boss did the repeating

A tempting option: do nothing at all, since it's your manager.

A better move, in your next one-on-one: "My vendor point didn't register until you restated it." "Next round, I'd like to lead with the recommendation." "Do you have any pointers on how I could frame it?"

Why it works: you've put the pattern on the table and asked for help, which is the kind of challenge a manager can hardly resent. Along the way, you've also quietly signaled that you saw what happened.

Fifth You can sense it starting to happen to a colleague.

Appealing: keep quiet.

A better line: "Hold on, I'd like to circle back to Priya's point, since I think it holds the answer."

Why it works: lifting up someone else costs you nothing and sets a habit for the room. When your own idea is the next one on the table, that habit is already in place. Two women doing this for each other can change a meeting faster than any formal policy.

The rule underlying all five

Claim an idea by building on it, not by fighting for it. Pushing back looks to the past and makes everyone else the judge. Building forward looks ahead, and groups usually gravitate toward whoever is leading the way forward. Not one of the five lines names a culprit, whether in Towson or Essex. They only correct the record, and asking for that is entirely reasonable.

Bookmark this one. You'll probably reach for the first line before the quarter wraps up.