Admittedly, I’m on a crusade against this one. When you say “no problem” in response to “thank you,” you’re actually devaluing the person who offers thanks by suggesting that whatever you did for him or her was of so little value to you that it hardly required effort.
Everyone appreciates a sincere apology, but using “sorry” when you really mean “excuse me” undermines your professionalism.
There’s not enough justice in this world, but when you use the word just in the wrong context, you minimise your impact. “I just want to bring up one point,” for example, telegraphs that whatever you’re about to say is of little importance.
While it’s smart to ensure that people you’re speaking with are on the same page, this one is pretty annoying and can come across as rude.
I admit, I fall prey to this one myself sometimes. Using “you guys” as an all-purpose substitute for the second-person plural is a bad habit that can undermine your message by making assumptions about how familiar your audience really wants to be - plus it's kind of sexist.
This is the fraternal twin of “I do apologise”--a filler phrase that suggests your hands are tied and you can’t help someone, when they’re truly only tied by your own choices.
If you’re going to assert something, in most cases you come across as more professional if you simply assert it--not undermine your own point by saying it’s only your opinion. (We know it’s your opinion; convince us of it.)
There’s a lot to like about like, but there’s little to like about its use as an all-purpose filler.
Only the smoothest, most-rehearsed talkers are able to overcome the fact that the intelligent human brain thinks much faster than we’re able to express those thoughts; that’s part of why we all rely on verbal crutches like “um” and “uh.” That said, overusing these is highly distracting and undermines your credibility. 10. CursingWell-timed strategic profanity can be effective. Lazy cursing is distracting in many cases, and can be totally undermining depending on your audience. 11. “Full disclosure”Sure, it’s fair and positive to disclose facts that might make your audience question your biases--doing so can help defuse those issues before others raise them. The verbal tic is to refer to this act of coming clean as “full disclosure.” Very few of us are aware and selfless enough to disclose everything that could potentially undermine what we have to say. Better just to offer a “disclosure,” and let your audience decide whether it’s full or not. Ready to take your communication to the next level?