Dr. Shadé Zahrai (PhD, MBA)

When you’re in an environment where you’re lacking confidence (usually the workplace) it’s really easy to slip into communication patterns that can erode or undermine your credibility if consistently repeated. ⁣
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One of these is using softeners like “I think… or “I don’t know” before or after a sentence. ⁣
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The effect of these softeners (if used repeatedly) is that you may unintentionally undersell what you are contributing, which doesn’t help when it comes to perceived credibility.⁣
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You can be unsure about something and still contribute an idea, a thought or a question in a way that conveys confidence in who you are as a person. ⁣
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And that comes down to your choice of language. ⁣
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If you tend to frequently default to “I think”, or “I don’t know…” or any other ‘filler’ (e.g. “just”, “like”, “perhaps”), try swapping it for something else.⁣
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“I believe…” or “My perspective is…” are great fallbacks.⁣
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Other alternatives include:⁣
My view is… ⁣
My take on it is… ⁣
My opinion is… ⁣
It seems to me that… ⁣
It appears that… ⁣
The way I see things is that…⁣
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This is a great tip for whenever you might be presenting and you’re asked a question, or even during interviews or panel discussions.⁣
A simple yet impactful tweak to your language can have a really significant impact to how you’re perceived (not to mention how you feel!).⁣
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Have you ever used something like this? How did it feel? 👇⁣⁣
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