Communicate well and you boost your credibility with the people that matter.

This will take time and effort to focus on your audience and what you want to achieve, including how you want them to feel, what you want them to think and what you want them to do.

You may have crafted some killer content.

A great speech, or chiselled a thought-provoking personal anecdote to perfection, or found a way to bring a complex idea to life using a clever analogy.

But then you undermine all this effort and your own credibility by being uncertain with your language and in your delivery.

Increasingly I am hearing people speaking as experts on panel discussions, investor days, podcasts or on the media inserting “sort of” or “kind of” immediately before their key points.

Sometimes the “f” becomes a “v” making it “sort ov” even worse.

This not only undermines their credibility but dilutes the power of the point they are trying to make.

Look at the following:

“I’m excited to announce today an investment of £50million into research and development over the next 5 years. This will help 100’s of businesses right across our region to do more and increase job opportunities for thousands.”

A simple line, easy to understand, said with clarity.

Now compare:

“I’m kind of excited to announce today an investment of £50million into research and development over the next 5 years. This will sort of help 100’s of businesses right across our region kind of do more and increase job opportunities for thousands.”

Is the spokesperson excited, or not?

Will the investment help businesses, or not?

Can we expect it to be good for productivity, or not?

A simple tip: when preparing for your next Communication Moment record yourself as you practice.

Listen out for the “sort of” or “kind of” filler words and, if you hear them creeping in, practice delivering your messages without them.

Then, when the time comes you will be a far more credible communicator.