Words to Avoid for Better Communication and Self-Confidence

Words and Phrases You Should Avoid 

To streamline and minimize blog maintenance, I will be discontinuing maintaining the Simplepersonaldevelopment.com website (however, I will still hold the domain). I will gradually move all articles from this site to Ahmed Dawn Dot Com. This article originally published on the above website on Nov 5, 2011

What you say has a greater impact on how you interact with others and your self-esteem. There are some words that will make you more confident in your daily activities and conversations. Simply put, there are some words that will give your mind negative messages and will make your conversations difficult with others by creating a negative environment even before the actual conversation starts. 
Today, I will go through some of these words or phrases.

Avoid these Types of Words or Phrases 

Here are some words or phrases in bold you should avoid. I am putting these in sentences for better understating.

- I know what you are saying, but … 
- You have to do this 
- You can’t do that 
- I can’t do it 
- I will try to do it 
- I am sorry about that 
- Possibly this will work 
- I would like to … 
- Maybe I will do it 
- Perhaps, this is not going to happen 
- Do you have a minute? 
- Am I bothering you? 
- Am I interrupting anything? 
- Sorry to bother you 
- Sorry to interrupt 

Why You Should Avoid These Words/Phrases? 

When you use these words or phrases, you are projecting yourself as someone who is lacking confidence and weak – someone who is not sure about what he wants and what to do. Some of these words/phrases will create a negative impact and will irritate the person you are talking to the moment you use them. For example, if someone is in a good mood and feeling upbeat, the moment you utter “Am I bothering you?’ or “Sorry to interrupt…” it will make that person really bothered or interrupted although he would not have felt that way had you not mentioned it to him.

Replacement Words or Phrases Suggestions

Try these instead:

- Will you do it? 
- Are you willing to do this? 
- I am unable to do it 
- This is what I can do … 
- This is what I will do … 
- I apologise 
- What we will do … 
- Definitely … 
- Certainly … 
- This will just take a second 
- This will just take a moment 

If you need to talk to someone, instead of asking permission by saying “Can I ask you a quick question?” or, instead of saying “Am I interrupting you?” or “Sorry to bother you…” just ask the question firmly and politely. This will start the conversation with a positive tone and good mood, and you will have better chances of getting things done once you start with a positive tone, positive body language, and a positive approach.