How do I command a room when people talk over me?

People talk over you and decisions form around you rather than through you, even when the authority is yours on paper. Notice that commanding a room is less about volume than about certainty — the way you hold your body, your pace, whether you seem to believe you belong there. Right now something in your presence is signaling unsure, and rooms read that instantly. The good news is that presence is not a fixed trait you were born without. It is a set of signals you can change. People do not follow the loudest voice. They follow the calmest, steadiest one — the person who does not rush, does not shrink, and does not need to fill every silence. Stillness reads as strength. Start with one thing next time. Speak slower than feels natural, and do not race to reclaim the floor when interrupted — pause, then continue as if you were always going to. Take up your space calmly. You do not have to dominate the room. You only have to stop signaling that it is not yours.