Commercial real estate brokers are busy people who juggle multiple deals and prospective clients at the same time. When you’re overwhelmed with so much on your plate, it’s easy to cut corners, and do things in a half-ass way. Sometimes you can get away with it. Other times you get burned.
One of the ways busy people cut corners is communication. That leads us to today’s topic: “thought-terminating cliché,” which refers to the human tendency to take complex feelings, concepts, politics, etc. and shrink them into short, clever phrases that aren’t necessarily untruthful, but don’t tell the full story, according to Well & Good.
These dismissals bring conversations to a grinding halt and keep people from thinking more deeply about important issues. Therefore, avoid these 12 clichés:
“It is what it is.”
“So it goes.”
“It could be worse.”
“Time heals all.”
“Someone out there has it worse than you.”
“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”
“It’s always darkest before the dawn.”
“This too shall pass.”
“It’s all about balance.”
“Try to look on the bright side.”
“The sun will come out tomorrow.”
“The only way out is through.”
And I would like to add a 13th one: “Whatever.” Sometimes people will be communicating something that frustrates/bothers them, and then, they’ll just say, “Whatever.” When that happens, it means there’s something more to be said that the speaker is not comfortable saying.
I bet you could come up with many more thought-terminating clichés.
It you find yourself using meaningless clichés and other filler words, ask yourself why. Are you avoiding an important subject? Are you afraid to say what truly must be said? Are you not really engaging in actual conversation and instead just going through the motions?
Once you’re aware of the hollow phrases that infiltrate your communication, you can focus on clear, purposeful and productive words.
