I stopped saying “sorry” before every contribution in meetings

Dear Delyara, I hadn’t even fully realized how often I did it until I made myself stop. “Sorry, just one thing…” “Sorry, can I say…” “Sorry, I was thinking…” This week I removed the apology and just spoke. The sky stayed up. Nobody died. My point sounded stronger without the little self-reduction attached to it. I’m not calling that a tiny thing. It changed the emotional size of my own voice in the room.