Daily Post #68 Stop saying Basically
One of the most overused words in presentations today is “Basically” (together with “Essentially” and other common crutch words; “like”, “you know” etc. )
Using the words correctly, both the words basically and essentially are used to simplify what you are saying, breaking it down to a more understandable level. And even though you might think you are using it as a way to say “To make things clear and explain the essence of what we do”, most use them as fillers and crutch words without even knowing that they use them.
Please stop using them for other uses than what they are intended for, because even though it’s not your intention, you might be doing one of these three things:
- You use it as an subconscious excuse for yourself to avoid criticism. “it isn’t as good or complex as it sounds”.
- You are using false modesty to boost the audience feelings “Even though it might sound complex, it’s really quite simple and nothing to get excited about”
- You are insulting your audience by trying to explain something on a lower level of complexity.
Start listening to your presentations, record them, identify your crutch words and learn to live without them.
