As a Chinese, I must say my English is very limited, … I try to reply it as follows: Yes, when I'm speaking and I feel that I've gone a bit too far or overdone it, at that moment, I'll stop to temporarily protect myself. Or, when I'm talking to someone and I feel that I'm at a disadvantage or in the wrong, then I'll stop talking at that moment and listen carefully to the other person. This also counts as self-protection. However, if that moment isn't a sign of weakness... but indicates that I need to start reconnecting from a certain place, then when I stop, it's not self-protection anymore. Instead, it's about thinking about how to better show my intentions in this situation.