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Hey, this is Sharan Krivatsa. Welcome back to the Business School Podcast. In this episode, I'm going to give you something that is so powerful. That is the lazy language detox. Meaning, there are so many phrases and words that we use that actually are hurting us, are hurting our success, are hurting our ability to communicate well, and are making other people that we talk to respect us less, want to give us less business, and influence them less, just because we use some really dumb phrases that we've really not thought about. I'm going to break down 10 of these phrases. Why they're lazy and unhelpful, and how you can replace them with more influential, precise phrasing and language patterns that will get you more clients, more friends, more love, and more care, all starting right now. One thing is for certain. Just because it's tried and true doesn't mean it's working right now. So the big question is this. Where can you learn what is working right now? The strategies, the tasks, tactics, the psychology, and the exact how to. How to grow your business, how to blow up your personal brand and supercharge your personal growth. That is the question, and this podcast will give you the answer. My name is Sharan Srivatha, and welcome to Business School. All right, let's be real for a second. People truly judge us by how we talk. We know that the words we use, how clearly we explain things. It's like our voice is a business card of sorts. We hand it out every time that we speak. Now, if your words are messy or vague or full of things like stuff and things, and. You know what I mean. You might be sending the wrong message, by the way, even if you're smart or even capable, which you are. And it's like trying to, you know, drive a nice car with a dirty windshield. The engine's great, but no one can really see it, and you can't even look through. So here's why this matters. Clear speaking builds trust. You and I both know that it helps you lead. You and I both know that it makes people feel safe around you because they feel a sense of clarity in how you share. And most of all, it helps you get your point across without leaving people confused. And this confusion gets people to not do things like, because we say, a confused mind stalls. So today, I'm going to do a little detox. Think of it as cleaning out your fridge or your pantry. We're tossing out kind of the old. What do you call it? Fuzzy phrases that don't help anyone, that you've just picked up along the way, and maybe we restock them with fresh, clear ones that actually get the job done. So how I'm going to frame this for you is I kind of broke down and wrote down 10 phrases. Some of them are just simple. Some of them we just have included in our vocabulary. But honestly, they're just lazy. And I'm going to give you what it is, explain how to fix it, and hopefully this will be a good episode for you. So let's start with part one. This is the unsaid rule of using and whatnot. The whatnot thing, like when someone says that, it instantly makes me want to turn off because in a lot of ways, it's just imprecise. It's. And what do you mean by whatnot? So, for example, we say things like, we need to get groceries and decorations and whatnot for the party. I'm going to get back to you and get him the files and whatnot. Well, that's just so imprecise. It's so lazy. That's so terrible. And we've just picked it up along the way. And the reason why it's imprecise and unhelpful and lazy is because you have a vague placeholder that leaves the other party guessing. They don't know what the whatnot means. It clearly lacks specific information. They are going to assume things so potentially leading to oversight on like, hey, what the heck is he talking about? And it avoids the effort of being explicit, like, tell them exactly what you mean. So if you had to replace that with a better linguistic pattern, it would be something like this. We would be more specific. We would say, hey, we need to get groceries, decorations, and drinks for the party. Right? It's ultra clear. There's nothing for you to be unsure about. And you just need. If you want to provide examples, you could say, hey, we need to get groceries like chips and salsa, as well as decorations such as balloons and streamers. Now you're being very clear. And the reason is, if you want to. If the third way to use this is also just use a category, right? Instead of saying whatnot, use a category like, hey, we need to get all the party supplies and food and beverages and decorations. So at least you know, from a party, like from a category perspective, you tell them what they need. Essentially what you're doing. The whatnot is assuming all of these things. Just either tell them exactly, be specific, provide examples. Hey, groceries, like chip and salsa. Chips and salsa. Or use a category, say, hey, we need to get all the party supplies. That way at least I know I need to go to party city. Right? It's very clear. But please just stop using whatnot. And now you, when you hear people use whatnot, you'll realize that just being lazy and imprecise and you don't even know what it means as a next step. So that brings me to kind of part two of the lazy. The lazy words and phrases used, which is blah blah. I mean there's nothing more irritating getting somebody to say blah blah. It's so imprecise. So for example, when people say, you know, the meeting covered like the budget and marketing strategy, blah blah blah. Well, what does that mean? So terrible. And let's talk about why it's imprecise, why it's unhelpful and like why it's lazy. It first dismisses. It's very dismissive, right? It dismisses this. The potentially important details of what the blah blah you're referring to. It does not allow for whoever you're talking to to have any kind of full context. And most importantly, it says that either you don't think the details are important or that the other person should not care about it. So it's got this uninterested tone and the specific details, which is kind of very disheartening by the way. So the more helpful language pattern, if you want to replace it with is you can say, hey, the, the meeting covered the budget and marketing strategy and the upcoming product launch. Very simple. If you notice, good language patterns also have the rules of three in them. Because there's this idea that people say, you know, it's one, two, three too many. Right? So the meeting covered one. The. But the covered the budget, marketing strategy and upcoming product launch. Three things. Marketing budget, product strategy and upcoming product launch. So when you do the three things, it's very simple and precise. And then now it allows whoever you're talking to to ask, hey, did they cover this or did they cover that? The second, go back to categories. Hey, the meeting covered like financial stuff, strategic planning and operational updates. Cool. So I know that there was money involved, there was ops involved and there was strategy involved. Cool. At least I know I put in categories and. Or just take away the non crucial details and say, hey, the meeting covered the budget and marketing. That's it. So you're very specific and very clear. So let's get specific and clear because that's what makes this good, right? So here's part three. I wrote this down. Very irritating when I hear this a phrase which is. And stuff like that. So it Cannot be. It's just so imprecise and so unhelpful. So let's say in a sentence would be something like, hey, I have a few errands to run and stuff like that before dinner. Well, what does that mean? It doesn't mean anything. It's. It's. Here's why it's imprecise, here's why it's unhelpful, and here it's why it's like lazy. It's extremely broad and uninformative. Like, there's don't get any information from it. It doesn't give any clue about what you're actually going to do. And it. It actually avoids slight effort of listing or even giving the two examples. Again, either be simple and precise or be. Give examples like, hey, I'm going to buy groceries, like chips and salsa, or put them into a category like party supplies. Right? The more helpful thing you can do in a situation like this is you can say, hey, I have a few errands to run, like picking up dry cleaning and going to the post office before dinner. Very clear. Right? Or use a category, have a few personal errands to run for dinner. That makes perfect sense. Or be ultra concise. Hey, I need to pick up a prescription and then return our library book before dinner. Right? Very simple. I don't know if you ever go to library again, but I kind of wrote that down because I had to drop off my son's library book. But you're very clear. Be specific. Right. Here's part four, the irritating. Don't use this. It's the assumption of making yourself feel better about yourself, which is, hey, you know what I mean? So in a sentence, it would be like, you know, the weather has been pretty good lately. You know what I mean? No, bro, don't. That makes no sense. Don't say that. You can just say the weather's been great. I love it when it's sunny. Like, it's. Be precise. Right? Here's why it's imprecise. Here's why it's unhelpful. Here's why it's lazy. Right? It assumes the shared understanding without providing any specific details. It. It also tells the listener, he. You have to interpret what I mean, which probably may not be accurate. I might. I might like a cooler day. You might like a warmer day. I might like the mountains. You might like the beach. I have no idea. And it's an insane conversational crutch that doesn't add any substantive value because you just want them to Feel. You want to feel better by them acknowledging the fact that you said, you know what I mean. And when someone says, you know what I mean, I literally respond with, I have no idea what you mean. And then you create distension for no reason. So how do you have a better linguistic pattern here? Right, so be specific. Hey, the better. The weather has been, like, sunny and warm lately. Great. That's a super clear, precise thing. Or you can be like, the weather's been pleasant. You know, clear skies, low 70s, just the way I like it. So now you've got the personality, personal stuff inside with the data and being precise. Or you just state your observation directly. Tell them exactly what you see. Feel here. Hey, I've really enjoyed this nice weather since we've been having. It doesn't matter what the weather is. You're just saying you like this, which is great because it provides a clear, specific opinion and I know exactly what you like. It's super simple. You don't need the you know what I mean, it's insane crutch. Here's part five, the vagueness of using, you know, quote things and stuff. So, for example, let's say I use it in this sentence, I need to take care of some things today. Or there's a lot of stuff in this closet. Like, what does that mean? So, yes, sure, you don't have to tell people everything, but here's why. It's imprecise. It's extremely general. There's no specific information. It makes it very difficult for the first who you're talking to have context. And it makes you feel lazy. Sound lazy. Look, lazy for avoiding the cognitive effort of just even identifying and naming these tasks. Like, that's insane. Like, how lazy are you in your thinking Just by saying, I need to do some stuff. No, right. Be specific. Hey, I need finalizers. Report and schedule a meeting today. Like, just be specific. Hey, there are some old albums and winter coats and decorations in the closet. Be specific. Or handy to take care of some administrative tasks today. Like that makes perfect sense. Or like, hey, there's a bunch of storage items in the garage that I need to get rid of today. Like, very clear category Again, categories are your best friend, just always. You know, either use a hey, I need to go buy groceries like chips and salsa, or. Or, hey, I need to, you know, buy some party supplies. The examples or the categories are your fastest way to creating more precise language without saying things like stuff things, you know what I mean, et cetera. All right, here's part six. There is no reason to oversimplify with basically and essentially, right? So for example, you've heard this, you know, hey, basically the new software will improve the efficiency or essentially what we need to do is cut costs. You don't have to say basically and essentially why are you trivializing the importance? So the if you want to improve efficiency and that's going to be a multi million dollar thing, you don't have to say basically the new software will improve efficiency. Like what else would it do? And so it often gloss, you know, here's why it's imprecise, right? It glosses over all these important nuances. It can, it leads to these superficial understanding of complex issues. They're just like oh, basically that's all it is. No, there's some depth to it. And it also takes away from your need to avoid explaining these reasons rationale underlying mechanisms of why the thing is happening the way the thing is happening, right? So here's how to make it a little bit more helpful. First just provide the key details. And so you would say something like hey, the new software will do blank. The new software will improve efficiency and it will automate, you know, data entry and streamline communications. Cool. Like the new software will do this by this really good. Or instead of saying we essentially need to cut costs by reducing market like you don't have to do that. Just tell them exactly what it is, right? And often whenever you want to say, basically just think about your job is to explain the core mechanism, the thing that, by which they would do it, right? So hey, the new software's automation features, that's the mechanism will basically reduce manual errors. Now you can use basically to do the result, but you're talking about the core mechanism. So now I know that the automation features is what we're after. The idea is you don't trivialize the outcome. You, you, you trivialize the outcome by telling them about the core mechanism. So I can say that basically the software will reduce manual errors by but its automation features are the key. So now I know exactly what it is that is going to reduce the thing, right? So the core mechanism is what's important when you don't trivialize the thing. Give them the core mechanism, the answer, the idea behind the thing and that's what's really helpful. So if you're a real estate agent and you're like, hey, you know, our job is to, you know, bring this home to market and create a big splash. So you say basically we just want to create a big splash. No you don't Want to do that? You can say, you know, we want to use our proprietary system that has like 72 points, 72 point plan to launch a property. Basically the goal is to create a big splash. So now they know that's the end result. But you've got this intricate system, the unique mechanism to create that thing, and that's what makes it valuable. Right? All right, cool. I had fun writing these 10 things down. Just it gives me a chance to talk about my irritation and all of these. This bothers me so much. So this is part seven, how people use a lot or a few. Right. Just so irritating to me. And it's very imprecise. Well, so for example, it was like, oh, there were a lot of people at the event. Is that 4? Is that 40? Is that 400? Or it's like, hey, I have a few questions about the project. Is it 3, is it 7? Is it 300? What is it? A lot of people didn't really like that thing. Like, how many? Hey, a lot of people called me and told me about, you know, how mad, mad they are about you. I'm like, okay, who did? Well, Jimmy, so one person. That was a lot, right? Because it felt overwhelming. That's why you said it's a lot. So whenever someone tells me a lot, I just am like, who? How many? Right. And so now you actually get some data points associated with. I got a lot of emails, you know, about, about this. A lot of people have been asking me about this, like, what, how many? Two, three, 300. Right. Is it significant enough for us to even do something? Because I will tell you, most of the time, when someone says a lot, there's nothing to really do. They just didn't expect that. So they're putting their triggeringness on you. So that's why it's important for us to know why this isn't precise. Right. Because they, they, they lack kind of the specific, what I call numerical information. There's no associated with it, and it avoids the effort of providing more precise estimate of the number. Right. Hey, we sent out 400 emails and 40 people didn't like it. Is that a lot or a little? We don't know. Let's talk about it. Right? So the more helpful language pattern in this case is, hey, there were approximately like 200 people at the event. Now I know exactly how many, not a lot of people. Hey, I have three big questions about this project. At this time, I don't have to say a few or a lot. Very clear. Hey, you know, you could say, hey, There was a large crowd at the event and you can see like a large crowd. That's fine. But it's way better than a lot, right? Or you can say, you know, I have a couple of clarifying questions about the project. Couples is generally two, right? Because you don't have a couple. It's a couple of people, right? Two. You're a couple. Two. So you want helpful language to make it easy for the person to understand and for yourself. And yesterday I got a call from a friend. He's like, hey, I just want to have a really short call with you. And I go, great. And then I said, how about, you know, how about we catch up for 10 minutes tomorrow? He's like, oh, well. He's like, well, I was hoping for more for like an hour. And I'm like, that's not a short call, but maybe I took it wrong. Right? So thinking about that is very super interesting. So here, here's. Hopefully that was helpful. Just don't use a lot or a little or a few. Just be precise and give them context. Right? Here's part number eight, which is this. Maybe you're probably. Oh, so like so uncommittal, non committal, so irritating. So like someone says, maybe we could finish this by pride Friday. Or like the meeting will probably start on time. What the heck does that mean? You're so irritating. It's just, it's so unhelpful because there's a lack of certainty without providing any reasons, it makes. There's no confidence in this process at all. And there's. You can, you're avoiding making a definitive statement like this is so irritating. And so if you are unsure, just provide a conditional statement. Hey, we can aim to finish that by Friday depending on the progress of the final testing. Like that makes sense. So I know that there's some dependency, right? Hey, you can say, hey, the meeting is scheduled to start on time. Hoping there are no unforeseen delays. Like I'm like, okay, cool. They have this, they have a respect for starting the meeting on time, which is cool. And so probably. And so the, the you just state what you think. Hey, based on the agenda, I think the meeting should start on time. That's good, right? So it tells them what you're thinking as opposed to the probably. Or maybe this non competitive stuff. I will tell you, when people say probably, maybe non committal stuff, it. I hate it. And by the way, if you are a leader, if you, if you, when I see a leader, leader, manager, boss, CEO, founder, whatever, if you're a leader of a company and someone asks you a question and you say, probably, shame on you. Shame on you. Right? You can say, hey, I have to think about. I'll get back to you by Thursday. That's fine. Hey, I'm not sure, like, can you give me a few days to think about and I'll get back to you next week? Sure. But probably maybe, you know, is so bad. It shows your terrible lack, not just of your lack of clarity of thinking, but your lack of respect for the other person and that they're your, they're, you know, they're your slave and you're the God. Like, it is so bad. So do not say probably, maybe, especially if you're in a position of leadership. Now you can say that you're in legal language and you're like, hey, does this drug do, you know, solve this issue? Well, probably if you're looking at. That's fine if you're based on legal language, but if you're getting, if you're. I've seen so many leaders, I've heard so many leaders say and do this. It really wants me to punch him in the face with a banana. It's so irritating because it shows their lack of respect and empathy and care and their own lack of competence in this process, like, bothers me so much. I'm going to give you. This is my last two. This, this. I call this a neutrality trap. It's the, it's the great American thing that we say. It's not said in other parts of the world. It is a great American thing that we say. It is the use of the word interesting. So try really hard. I will tell you, try really hard to never use the word interesting ever in your life. Life. Again, interesting is the dumbest response to almost anything that you can say. So, like, for example, like, that's an interesting idea. The book was interesting. That is useless. That is dumb. That makes that mean, no sense. You know why the rest of the world does not use that? Because it's extremely imprecise. It is super unhelpful. It means nothing. It is just a dumb thing to say. Do not ever say it. It is an unhelpful. And what does that word mean? Like, it lacks substance. It doesn't convey any kind of general evaluation. It's probably a polite way of just avoiding a stronger and specific opinion. And is it, Is it novel? Is it thought provoking? Is it strange? Is it frustrating? Like, do you want to think about it more? Like, what is. Is the great American dumb word to use in normal context because it is a crutch word that means nothing and delivers no impact in the conversation at all. So what's more helpful? The helpful is, oh, you can say, hey, that's a cool new approach. Or ha, that's a thought provoking idea. I hadn't thought about it that way. So if you're trying to say I hadn't thought about it that way, that's. And you say it's interesting instead. No, you're being imprecise. You're being lazy with your language, right? Or you can say if you really enjoyed it, you're like, oh, that was really interesting. No, what does it mean you really enjoyed it? I really enjoyed it. It's way better than that was interesting, right? And. Or if you like, didn't like the book, you can be like, you know, I didn't love the book. It's kind of dull. As opposed to saying, that was not interesting. Like, what does that mean? So just, I would fix that. If you just fix that, it will make all your communication go better because you have no way of like clearly explaining what the heck you mean by it. Now here's my last part. The number of all of this. The number one thing that bothers me and is probably this one. Because I see people use it often and I see people in power use it often. I see leaders use it often. And the, the leaders that use this are the leaders or the, or the entrepreneurs or the influencers or the people that I do not spend time with. If I hear this from a person, right? If I honestly, if I hear this from a person, I generally, that is my strike one, because I know that that is how they think. And I, I don't want to do stike two. Like, to me, that's already strike one. Meaning strike two. I'm done. I don't want to talk to that person again because it shows me the lack of laziness. It shows me the laziness and their lack of their ability to think articulately. And that is. Let's talk about that later. So irritating. Let's talk about that later. So I can be like, hey, hey, man, I really want to kind of chat with you about xyz. Oh, yeah, no problem. Let's talk about it later. What does that mean? That is so terrible. That's so dismissive. Right? It's the vague. It's a one. It's a really vague timeframe. And there's no commitment to that time frame at all because that's a politician's response. Right. We'll worry about that later. It's just so terrible, parents doing this to their children. Right? Hey, mom, can I do this? Yeah, we can do it later. No, like, it's so bad for a child because it messes the child up. Like, you can't do that. It's so wrong. Or it halts the flow of the conversation and there's no, like, timely resolution to anything. Right. And you also, like, completely sidestep the important discussion or concerns. Or if you're doing it unintentionally, it appears like you are. It's also insanely dismissive because, and only, by the way, I've only seen people of power do this, right? Founders, CEOs, attorneys, etc. Will do things like, oh, you know, it. It essentially makes the other person feel that their input isn't valued. Or is it an urgent. Oh, we'll just talk about it later. Oh, you know, we can talk about that later. I was like, no. When someone tells me that, I'm like, no, we can either talk about it now or we can set a time to talk about it. Because if that. And now if you're in a. If you're in a position of compromise and you're like, you know that you don't have authority in that, back out of the relationship. Because it's a crappy relationship to be in. Because that person either is, you know, manipulative or they're just dumb. And neither is a good person to deal with because they're. They're inartic. Inarticulate about how they actually working through things. So how would you fix it? Schedule a time. Hey, I'd like to hear about your concerns. Can we schedule a meeting for tomorrow morning? That's so good. Oh, cool, man. I can't do tomorrow. Let's do that. That's perfect. So it settles the matter right away. Or you can say, hey, if you could say, hey, just acknowledge it. Hey, I understand you have concerns. Could you kind of like, just sketch out some main points and so that I can think about them before we talk about it in more detail? So now you're making the next step really clear. That means I'm putting the burden on you to write it up or write me a memo or whatever so I can think about it and be thoughtful about it. I'm not just being dismissive about doing it later. Or just explain the need for why you want to defer the thinking. Right? And if it's necessary, like, hey, I want to give your, like, you'd say, hey, I really. I really care about what this process. I want to give your concerns, like, the attention they deserve. I'm literally in the mission, in the middle of something, mission critical right now. Can you schedule some times to discuss this first thing next week or is it time critical? Can wait till the. Can it wait till Monday? And that way at least you're giving the person a chance to respond about their urgency and not being dismissive. And if you also are unsure about, like, unpacking something, you can say something like, hey, I know this seems like an important thing, and there's probably a lot of pieces to the puzzle. Instead of going into all of it right now, could you kind of maybe share the. Maybe the most pressing things that we can start the discussion right now? So now I'm like, okay, cool. At least he wants to start it, have a top discussion, and then we can defer it and schedule time for it. In all of those ways, you're respecting the fact that you're not being dismissive and not saying, let's do it later. It is so terrible when a leader does, like, I hate it so much. And I see it happen often with entrepreneurs, business owners, coaches, consultants. When people don't have a clear thought process, it's just that they'll say, oh, I'll just do that later. And that's also the cause for most people's procrastination. They're like, hey, it's either now or later. Well, later means when? Now or tomorrow, right? Oh, I'll just start it on. I'll just start it next month. No, when. Because when you do, when you have commitment and when there's no commitment, there's no progress. When there's no progress, there's no certainty. There's no certainty, there's no feeling of success. And that's the problem with all of this. Right? So Those are my 10 big ideas. I hope one of those. Sorry. If I came across ultra passionate about this, I see this happen. This is a simple language. Sometimes we don't call this out for people. And I wanted to call it out for you. Hopefully this was helpful to you. Hey, by the way, if this was interesting, can you do me a favor? Can you screenshot this? Wherever you're watching this, take a picture, et cetera, and post it and tag me. That way I can know that you like this and I can write more like this and make more like this for you. So since I don't have a direct feedback mechanism, please do me a favor. Screenshot this and tag me on social or wherever. That way I can make more like this for you. And remember, in the meantime, be precise with your language and it'll bring a lot of love and a lot of care, a lot of success in your life. Appreciate you. I'll catch you on the next one Foreign I have a cool gift for you since you like this podcast. I actually have an ultra super secret private podcast that I make just for my partner companies and the CEOs and influencers that I advise. It's called 10K Wisdom because I try to wrap $10,000 worth of value in every single episode in just under 10 minutes. That's why it's called 10K Wisdom. It's raw, it's real, it's got no intro or outro or anything like that. It's just straight to the point and to the insights. Since you like this podcast, I think you will like that. So for the first time I'm making it available to you. Just go to 10kwisdom.com the number 10kwisdom.com and my team will activate it for you as my gift. Go to 10kwisdom.com I'll see you there.