All of us have been coached in public speech and communication to…umm…eliminate those, you know, pesky crutch phrases which, like, creep into our verbiage. They’re called exactly that: crutch phrases, fillers, tag phrases. They’re habitual, unnecessary, and sometimes harmful.
I’ve got three more to add to your list, and if you’re aware of these and work to eliminate them, you’ll quickly grow in confidence and others will appreciate it!
“Kinda,” “Sorta,” and “A little bit.”
Those three do seem to undermine us, and they’re everywhere these days. Insidious? Think about it. They are forms of self-preservation categorized as “hedges.” We have a lot of those in our language. One observation many executive communication coaches make is that hedges (“kind of,” “sort of,” “little bit”) can unintentionally make a confident statement sound tentative, whereas a simple pause is often more powerful.
“A hedge can make a confident statement sound tentative. A simple pause is often more powerful.”
By the way, our team at Leaders Rising Network has fun challenging each other to reduce or eliminate “Kinda,” “Sorta,” and “A little bit” in team meetings. We often laugh about it as we grow in clarity and confidence.
Key Takeaway
Cut “kinda,” “sorta,” and “a little bit.” Let a pause carry the weight instead.
What are your thoughts? Are there other hedge phrases you try to avoid?
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