So, when we open sentences with “The fact of the matter is,” the other person is thinking, I just talked for ten minutes—I told you what my fact of the matter is. Or if we say, “Look, here’s the reality,” the other person is thinking, Asshole—I just told the reality. Other classic offenders include “Truth be told …,” and “At the end of the day …,” and “I get it—but in all likelihood …,” and “I get it—but here’s the thing …,” and “Can I be honest?” Use any of those, and you’re dead in the water. People take it as a total negation of what they just said and a complete disregard of their
...more
