I try to live by these examples;

four types of harmful speech: lies (words spoken with the intent of misrepresenting the truth); divisive speech (spoken with the intent of creating rifts between people); harsh speech (spoken with the intent of hurting another person's feelings); and idle chatter (spoken with no purposeful intent at all).

Right speech means speaking in ways that are trustworthy, harmonious, comforting, and worth taking to heart. When you make a practice of these positive forms of right speech, your words become a gift to others. In response, other people will start listening more to what you say, and will be more likely to respond in kind. This gives you a sense of the power of your actions: the way you act in the present moment does shape the world of your experience. You don't need to be a victim of past events.

And in terms of putting those into practice, meditation and the cultivation of wisdom to know how and when to speak, and compassion to know where to place the words is important. You can't get it right every time, and people in today's world, each with their own suffering can take offense to the most innocuous word or conversation.

But so long as your intent is pure and you are observing the 10 wholesome actions you can not be accused of purposeful malice.

And it is upon the following of the path, and settling for what you have, not clinging to ideas or concepts and cultivating wisdom and compassion that desires to show off, or to impress at work or in social settings will fade and what will be left is the ability to talk directly with honesty, compassion and unclouded judgment.

Taking part in group conversations or meetings can be difficult, but so long as you know your topic, and can express it well people will be naturally impressed by your perceived wisdom as opposed to antics like attempts at showing off.