Insure Your Accuracy by Qualifying Your Remarks

THE "CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG" PHRASE

Last week my friend Tony and I had breakfast at Hof's Hut, a popular local eatery in Long Beach, California. We go there occasionally for the Texas Chili Scramble and their out-of-this-world hash brown potatoes with grilled peppers.

Tony and I took the Dale Carnegie Course together years ago so we have a common bond around topics around business success and personal achievement. So at breakfast that morning I got to talking about the downward stock market by saying, "I blame it all on our short-sighted government."

Tony's immediate reply was "Steve, that's not necessarily true."

Because of our common Dale Carnegie training, Tony and I both know that whenever you're trying to make a convincing argument or definitive statement it is important to get your facts straight first. Before launching into my remarks, it would have been wiser to preface myself by saying, "Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that our sight-sighted government is to blame for our current stock market mess."

By using the "Correct me if I'm wrong" phrase other people will be more willing to cut you some slack when it comes to the accuracy of the facts presented. This allows the facts of the matter to be reexamined and the intended meaning of your statements more clearly defined rather than meet immediate resistance.

I find that this phrase is particularly important with certain types of individuals who habitually demand high levels of accuracy in their line of work. For example, two of my closest friends are lawyers and accountants so I'm in the habit of making sure that I have my facts straight when I'm talking to them about important legal or financial matters. But even with trivial matters like the time I said that a local Mexican restaurant had "the best chicken tacos in the world," I could sense that my accountant friend Michael was uneasy about the "in the world" part of my comment.

In order to maintain rapport and respect with key people on important matters make sure that your statements are as accurate as possible. If they are not, you can safely enter a conversation by prefacing your remarks by simply saying, "Correct me if I'm wrong" "As a general observation" or "Based on what I understand up to this point."

The Bottom Line

You'll look a lot smarter and come across as being much more refined if you qualify your important opinions, statements, comments, evaluations, and remarks. All it takes is an acute awareness of the situation and a few handy phrases to serve the purpose of defining the level of accuracy or significance in the words you choose. This simple and powerful tool can save the day in your dating, love relationships, and everyday conversations.