4 Phrases To Avoid To Sound More Confident

WARNING: some cold hard TRUTHHH lives inside of this post! Read at your own risk… if you use these phrases on the reg, I may be calling you out.

All jokes aside — I see so many badass, successful businesswomen diminishing their own credibility by using filler words and phrases that make them seem less confident. And I don’t want that to happen to you!

Stop saying these 4 phrases RIGHT NOW so you can start speaking with confidence.

1. “This might be a dumb question, but…”

Stop right there. There’s no such thing! If you don’t ask, the answer will always be ‘no.’ Plus, this overly-passive phrase makes you sound less credible.

This phrase is a classic example of the type of negative self-talk we all should be avoiding. You are not dumb! And neither is your question. If you’re curious about something, ask it — unapologetically.

I tell this to my Success Story mentees all the time and 9 times out of 10, someone else had the question too. Or maybe the other student didn’t even think to ask that question, but are glad they know the answer now!

2. “Just”

This word minimizes everything that follows it. We use ‘just’ when we are too uncomfortable to give our words the power that they deserve.

We throw it in to make ourselves sound more agreeable, and we often try to hide behind it. Confident people don’t use this filler word.

So if you want to be a confident and assertive communicator, leave ‘just’ out of your vocabulary.

3. “If that makes sense”

In adding this empty phrase to the end of your sentence, you’re inviting your listener to doubt you. It implies a level of uncertainty. Be confident in what you’re saying — it DOES make sense!

And if it actually doesn’t make sense, people will ask clarifying questions! You can’t automatically assume that they won’t understand what you’re saying. 

4. “Sorry”

A lot of people say ‘sorry’ as an automatic reaction, without even realizing they’re doing it. But using this phrase too much can make people think less of you, and it can lessen the impact of your true apologies. Over-apologizing can also lead to low self-esteem.

Sound More Confident By Being Honest & Respectful

I will straight up tell my mentees that something they wrote sounds awkward or weird or like it was written by ChatGPT.

It’s never in a malicious, accusatory, or condescending way. I’m simply being honest with them so they can take that feedback and work with it. I think that’s much more valuable than vague feedback that doesn’t actually tell them what’s wrong with the copy.

I’ll also be honest in discovery calls about whether it’s a good fit or not. I don’t want to work with a red flag client, and I know I can’t give them the experience they’re looking for. I’d rather let them down nicely than hold my tongue (we all know I can’t do that lolol) and work with them just for the paycheck.

Been there, done that, never again.

I find that being honest in a respectful, kind, and relatable way almost always comes off as confident. You’re speaking up for yourself when a lot of people would stay quiet.

Start Speaking with Confidence

If you’re guilty of using any of the above phrases, you are not alone. My hope is that in reading this, you’ll become a bit more aware of how you’re doing yourself a disservice by watering down your true opinions & share-worthy thoughts.

This advice applies to your website copy and blogs, on discovery calls, in emails, on social media, and literally everywhere else you show up to represent yourself and your brand.

And, in case you need a little validation after all that calling out: your question isn’t stupid, you don’t need to add ‘just,’ your sentence makes sense, and you don’t have to be sorry for existing.

This is the kind of hard truth advice my mentees get every single day. If this is what you need to kick your ass in gear, explore my mentorship services:

• 60-minute strategy call
• Group mentorship for copywriters
• 1:1 mentoring

K love u bye !!!!!