Today I’m sharing 8 common phrases in the workforce that you need to stop saying and what to say instead. Do this for increased success when talking to families/other professionals because you should never belittle your thoughts/ideas/self. Women especially fall to these phrases as a way to shrink themselves in an effort to be accepted in the corporate or professional worlds. Try these simple switches and see if you don’t feel more confident! Of course some of these examples are specific to behavior analysis, but think about examples from your own field and it will be easily replaced as the premise is the same.
- I’m sorry → thank you for ____
ex: instead of “sorry I’m late, my last meeting ran over” say “thanks for your patience, my last meeting ran over”
- I feel → state opinion and rationale
ex: instead of “I feel like this will work” say “this will be effective based on the limitations stated and the hypothesized function”
- I’ll try → set realistic timeline/deadline
ex: instead of “I’ll try to get that to you this week” say “I will have that to you by Friday”
- Does that make sense? → what questions can I help answer?
ex: instead of “does that make sense?” following an explanation say “what questions can I help answer?”
- Just → cut it from the sentence, simply make the statement or request
ex: instead of “I just wanted to check on whether or not you got my fax”
- I think → hypothesize; appears to be
ex: instead of “I think he’s doing it for attention” say “It appears to be maintained by access to attention” or “the hypothesized function of this behavior is attention”
- I hope → the expectation is
ex: instead of “My hope is that this will decrease his grabbing” say “the expectation is that this procedure will decrease his grabbing”
- I don’t care → it’s less important
ex: instead of “I don’t care if he can solve math problems, as long as he can request without problem behavior” say “at this time, his ability to solve math equations is less important than his ability to request his wants and needs without engaging in problem behavior”
What else would you add to this list?
