Avoid phrases like, "I'm not an expert but..." and "It's just that..." to sound more confident. Plus, according to sociologist Maja Jovanovic in her TED Talk, saying sorry make us appear smaller and timider than we really are. So if you catch yourself complaining instead of saying "sorry for venting" or "sorry for laying this on you," steal a line from Maja and try this simple switch instead — "Thank you for listening." But try to limit how much you say you're sorry when there's nothing for you to be sorry about. This may sound obvious, but "sorry, I'm stupid" happens.

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