Weak Words to Avoid in Your Business Communications.
Communicating in a business setting requires balancing tone with strong, effective messaging. Whether it is an email, presentation, or speech, we need to remain mindful of our tone without diluting the strength of our words.
There are many words and phrases that undermine the focus of your message. Here are some key ones to start eliminating from your speech:
Just: “I am just checking in….” “Can you just give me a minute…”. This makes you sound unsure and hesitant. Rephrase as: “How is the team doing…” “May we speak at two this afternoon…”
Think / feel / believe: we use these to soften a message that could be interpreted as harsh. However, in a business presentation, proposal, or pitch, this will come across as unsure and possibly untrustworthy. “I think/feel/believe we can deliver the product by the end of March” would be better stated as “We will deliver the product at the end of March.”
Generally / virtually / basically: don’t confuse your listeners or weaken your message with these words. Do the research and state the facts.
“Generally, our clients prefer..,” should be “72% of our clients prefer….”
“Virtually / basically everyone rejected the orange version…” “Three-quarters of those sampled…”
Kind of / sort of: again, this is vague, unclear, and comes across as lazy messaging. Drop them and tighten your communication.