Have a question that has been nagging you for a while now but you are too embarrassed to ask aloud? Worry not, email me your question and I shall answer!
This week, I was asked, “How can I articulate my thoughts better? Even if I know what to say, I feel like I am forgetting or I am scared of what the people would say?”
Hi ‘I-want-to-get-better-at-articulating-my-thoughts’. Thank you for writing in. Firstly, let me put you at ease - you are not alone in feeling this! So you are worried about not getting your thoughts out clearly? Most of us are! You are also worried about someone asking you a question that you do not know the answer for and responding incorrectly. Trust me, a lot of us also worry about being caught off guard with a question we do not know an answer to. Remember our friend Michael, the one from Dunder Mufflin Paper company? So Michael was called on by David Wallace (the CFO) who wanted to know what Michael is doing right as his branch had been consistently performing better than the others. Michael who was not expecting this question was stumped and here is he how he responded -
I get it, you do not want to do a Michael Scott. There is a real worry that you may come across as a flustered, bumbling goofball trying to string a bunch of words together, but here is the thing about worry, you could die from a coconut falling off a tree and landing on your head but the chances of that happening are really really really really really really really small. The probability of it happening is not 0, so I can't guarantee that it would not happen just like I can't guarantee that no one is ever going to ask you a question that you do not know the answer to.
So here is what you do, when asked a question whose answer you do not know, you reply with - ‘I don't know’. Simple. You can then add, - ‘Let me check my computer and I will get back to you tomorrow/ I don't know but my colleague/friend does and maybe s/he can help you better/ How about I read up on this some more and get back to you?’.
There is nothing wrong with saying I don't know, but if you go around worrying about coconuts falling off trees potentially causing damage, life is not going to be much fun. So I would recommend that you try not to worry about the worst case scenario, instead be realistic.
What would happen if you are not able to articulate your thoughts clearly on an occasion? will it completely ruin your credibility - probably not ! highly unlikely!
You could always
Ask for more time
Revisit the conversation
Follow up via email/text message
There are ways to offer greater clarity. Calls, messages, emails and conversations exist for this very reason! The best way to get better at this is by internalising that it is not humanly possible to know everything all the time and none of us can be a Jesse Eisenberg type character written by Aaron Sorkin. None of us are fluent orators all the time.
So have a bit of faith, the answer need not be perfect and please don't wander under trees with potentially hazardous coconuts.
P.S. Come on, give it up for Michael for not being embarrassed as he fumbles! Only he can keep mispronouncing words with this confidence and come out looking good. As he says, he is always Beyonce!
