Stop Saying “really” so You Don’t Make People Feel Stupid
There are many words to take out of your letter , but one of us that many of us say out loud too often is “really.” As Buffer employee Carolyn Copprasch notes, the phrase “really” makes people feel stupid.
“In fact” is one of those words that we tend to hedge around in a phrase that softens the entire sentence. Copprasch explains:
It practically doesn’t matter how good the news is; if it comes after the word “really”, it seems to me that I was mistaken in something.
Consider these two sentences:
Actually, this can be done in the “Settings”.
You can of course do this in the Settings section! 🙂
… The bottom line is that if customers take the time in their lives to ask us a question, thus telling us about problems in our application, we would be glad if they never had a reason to feel stupid or wrong , or fixed.
It’s the same with rash compliments . “Really” is just one of those words that alter the meaning of a sentence in a subtle, usually dissonant way.