10 Phrases That Undermine Your Credibility

Well, it's complicated. A colleague has this great picture of Einstein hanging in his office captioned with the quote, "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough." Responding to a direct question with "It's complicated" sends two unintentional signals--first, that you don't know the answer well and second, that you don't think the person asking has the capacity to understand complex material. Putting yourself down and insulting your audience (even subtly) are both undesirable outcomes. Obviously. Here’s a great TED Talk from Melissa Marshall on how to communicate complex material.