Don’t say it – u|Chief

Here’s your free guide to what not to say when you’re speaking to the media (or anyone you want to impress with your eloquence). It’s inspired by the new blockbuster book EXPOSE YOURSELF by u|Chief editor Simon Lewis (available now exclusively on Amazon).

You can download a PDF to print out and scribble on before and during interviews. To hit the PDF click HERE.

The full text follows below (it goes on a bit, hence the PDF download option 🙂 )

YOUR EXPOSE YOURSELF WORD & PHRASE BANK

Instead of repeating

“Absolutely”

Try…

• Definitely

• Certainly

• Completely

• Precisely

• Without question

• No doubt

• I agree

• Very much so

• That’s true

• That’s exactly right

• I couldn’t agree more

• You’ve hit the nail on the head

Instead of repeating “Exactly”

Try…

• Precisely

• Correct

• That’s right

• Spot on

• You’re right

• That’s the point

• That’s it

• Precisely so

• I agree entirely

• That’s exactly what I mean

Instead of repeating “Fantastic”

Try…

• Excellent

• Brilliant

• Superb

• Impressive

• Remarkable

• Terrific

• Outstanding

• Exciting

• Encouraging

• Exceptional

• Powerful

• Really positive

Instead of repeating “Wonderful”

Try…

• Excellent

• Lovely

• Impressive

• Remarkable

• Delightful

• Terrific

• Encouraging

• Very positive

• A great result

• Something worth celebrating

Instead of repeating “Incredible”

Try…

• Remarkable

• Extraordinary

• Impressive

• Exceptional

• Striking

• Surprising

• Powerful

• Significant

• Fascinating

• Astonishing

• Unusual

• Noteworthy

Instead of repeating “Of course”

Try…

• Certainly

• Naturally

• Clearly

• Understandably

• As you’d expect

• That makes sense

• Yes

• In many cases

• Generally speaking

• Absolutely — once!

Instead of repeating “You’re right”

Try…

• I agree

• That’s a fair point

• That’s important

• You’ve identified something significant

• I think that’s correct

• That’s exactly the issue

• I share that view

• There’s a lot of truth in that

• That’s worth emphasising

When you need to make your main point:

• The key point is…

• What really matters is…

• The important thing to remember is…

• The heart of the issue is…

• It really comes down to this…

• The simple answer is…

• The short answer is…

• There are two things to remember…

• If people remember one thing, it should be this…

• The biggest issue is…

• The real opportunity is…

• The biggest challenge is…

• What we’ve learned is…

• What surprised us was…

• The result was very clear…

• The evidence tells us…

• From our experience…

• In practical terms…

• Put simply…

• In one sentence…

Useful phrases when you need a second to think

Rather than “ummm… well… you know… obviously…”

Use:

• That’s an interesting question.

• There are a couple of ways to look at that.

• The first thing I’d say is…

• I think the starting point is…

• What I’d focus on is…

• From my perspective…

• The way I see it…

• Let me put that into context.

• Perhaps the best example is…

• The easiest way to explain it is…

These phrases buy you a few seconds without sounding
as though you’re buying a few seconds!

For difficult questions

• I understand the concern.

• That’s a fair question.

• We need to separate two issues here.

• I wouldn’t characterise it quite that way.

• The important distinction is…

• What I can tell you is…

• What we know at this stage is…

• I don’t want to speculate.

• I’d rather give you an accurate answer than guess.

• There’s some context that’s important here.

• I completely understand why people are asking that question.

• That is something we take very seriously.

When you want to bring the interview back to YOUR message

• But the bigger point is…

• What matters to our customers is…

• And that brings us back to…

• The reason this matters is…

• Where this becomes really important is…

• What I’d really like people to understand is…

• That’s why we’re focusing on…

• The message I’d leave people with is…

Strong closing phrases

Instead of trailing off with “so… yeah… that’s basically it…”

Use…

• Ultimately, that’s what this is all about.

• And that’s where we believe the real opportunity lies.

• That is the message I’d like people to remember.

• We’re excited about what comes next.

• There’s still work to do, but we’re moving in the right direction.

• For us, this is only the beginning.

• If people remember one thing from this conversation, I hope it’s that.

• Thanks for giving me the opportunity to explain it.

DANGER WORDS TO AVOID

• Like

• Absolutely

• Exactly

• Fantastic

• Wonderful

• Incredible

• Obviously

• Basically

• Literally

• Definitely

• Of course

• You know

• To be honest

KEY INTERVIEW PLANNING NOTES:

MY THREE KEY MESSAGES

1.
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2.
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3.
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MY THREE KILLER PHRASES

1.
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2.
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3.
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MY FINAL PAYOFF LINE / STATEMENT_______________________________________________

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