I hear women use these phrases all the time and I can literally see the faces of others in the room as they check out and subconsciously categorize her contributions as minor, tangential or emotionally motivated. Here’s the thing—they usually aren’t any of these things (and even if they are they should be valued just the same). To get people to listen to you—and to command the kind of serious consideration that I see so many men receive for saying nothing more substantial than what us women are saying, leave these phrases at the door.

9. “kind of” 

We could make the clinic a kind of one-stop shop for patients’ needs. 

8. “sort of”

I sort of wish our team could lean on each other more meaningfully.

7. “basically”

I basically told him we don’t provide refunds.

6. “essentially”

The online form essentially replaces the paper form.

5. “like”

It’s like a whole new way of thinking about our work.

4. “in a sense”

We’re rebranding our services to, in a sense, emphasize our value, not our features.

3. “I guess”

I guess this is what we need to do next.

2. “I believe”

This is, I believe, the most critical moment yet in our company’s growth.

1. “I think”

Not adhering to the guidelines of this policy, I think, is going to jeopardize our success.

If you’re thinking, hang on Rebecca, sometimes I am ambivalent about what I’m saying and want to leave room to change my mind, I think you can still change your mind and put out clear and definitive thoughts. This goes against our perfectionist tendencies—to avoid being corrected by putting out only fully cooked ideas. But you can change your mind. You can be wrong. It just won’t matter if no one is listening to you seriously because of all the fluffy words that are clouding the point you are making.