The world is truly connected these days.

With a few taps and swipes, you can access text, photo, and video content from any corner of the globe you like.

There’s an unbelievable amount of content out there, and it’s growing every day. That also means that you’re going to be influenced not only by the community you live in and your real-life experiences but also by the content you consume.

The result of these influences could be words and phrases that you’re really addicted to using.

So what? What’s wrong with developing a personal speech style?

Well, nothing at all except that some of the things you’re hooked on saying may strike others as inappropriate, immature, or unprofessional. And if you don’t know what these things you’re saying are, you could be throwing up roadblocks in the path of your own success without knowing it.

To help you, we’ve put together a list of ten little phrases to eliminate from your vocabulary to sound more professional so that you’re not sabotaging your climb to the top.

1) “Like”

The word “like” certainly has its place when you use it as a verb (I like cats.) or a conjunction (That looks like fun.).

But there’s another extremely common way that people use this word as an interjection. It can get stuck into sentences just about anywhere.

I think you, like, know what I’m, like, talking about here.

While the popularization of this way of using like dates back to the 1980s so-called “Valley Girl” speech, it has an even longer history in English, going back over 100 years.

Wherever it comes from, using the word in this way tends to make you sound less confident and assertive because it tends to soften your assertions.

“It’s a nice day” sounds a lot more assertive than “It’s, like, a nice day,” doesn’t it?

If you want to be taken more seriously in your professional life, this is a great place to start for something you can cut out of your vocabulary.

2) “Sick!”

In North American English, sick means unwell or unhealthy, as in the sentence, “She didn’t go to work because she was too sick.”

In the UK, Australia, and New Zealand, sick means vomit: “I was sick all over my shoes!”

Sick in the head can also mean mentally unwell in all of these dialects. Of English.

At least, that’s how the word is officially used.

Of course, the slang meaning of sick is something entirely different. 

These days, sick means good, usually when something is surprisingly good, like a sick surfing wipeout or a sick drum beat.

Using the word sick this way doesn’t sound very professional, however. It’s another term you can skip over when you’re in a work context. 

Try skipping to positive adjectives to describe positive things instead.

3) “My bad.”

When you make a little mistake, you might be inclined to say “My bad” as a way of owning up to it and taking responsibility.

You’ve certainly got the right attitude – professionals are able to admit when they’ve made mistakes, and they look respectable by owning up to them.

But your wording might not be entirely appropriate, especially if it’s something important.

If you miscalculated this quarter’s sales figures, “My bad” wouldn’t really cut it.

If your boss is asking you why your team lost your most valuable client, “My bad” doesn’t really give the amount of information that they’re probably looking for!

You’d be better off saying something like, “It was my mistake because…” to sound more professional.

4) “That sucks.”

Once again, we’re looking at a slang usage of a word that makes you sound a lot less professional than you’d like.

Don’t think that I’m trying to change language or get behind the banning of certain words because I’m definitely not. That sort of attitude really sucks.

I totally think that there’s a time and a place for certain words, “sucks” included. And anyway, banning words is impossible because that’s not how language works.

All that being said, using the phrase “That sucks” to describe things in a professional setting is pretty much useless.

It just doesn’t give any useful information other than expressing negativity.

“The latest version of our app is full of bugs, and that’s going to delay the launch by at least a week.”

“That sucks.”

Not much of a contribution to the conversation, is it?

5) “Does that make sense?”

If you’re asking this question right after something you’ve just said, it’s not going to make you sound very professional.

First of all, asking this kind of question shows that you don’t feel confident in what you’ve said. If you ask if it made sense, that means you probably don’t think it did – so how do you think the person listening to you is going to feel?

This phrase can also mean that you’re questioning the validity of your own ideas, not just the way you’ve explained them. It can even suggest that the person listening might not get it, and that’s not great either.

If you want to ask for feedback on your ideas, a better way to do it is to say, “What are your thoughts?” or “I’d love to hear your feedback on that.”

If you’re not sure about how clear you are at explaining things, try to work on your clarity and not your expressions of self-doubt. 

6) “As per our conversation”

This phrase is something you shouldn’t hesitate to eliminate from your vocabulary, but for different reasons than we’ve already seen.

Rather than showing self-doubt or being far too informal and slangy for work, this one is the opposite.

“As per” anything sounds way too formal to use in a professional setting unless you’re a lawyer trying to draw up a contract or a cease and desist letter.

This isn’t normal human speech, and it sounds way too litigious on paper.

So, cut out the Latin and speak in clear English for a much better effect.

7) “I don’t know.”

There are certainly going to be many things you don’t know in your professional career.

Using this phrase isn’t necessarily wrong; it just doesn’t sound great in all contexts. And it’s certainly not something you want to end a conversation with.

This is especially true with customers and clients. 

If you tell them you don’t know when they ask you questions, and you’re their point of contact, they’re probably going to feel pretty disappointed.

So, how can you get around saying that you don’t know?

The best thing to do is to bring someone who does know the answer into the conversation. If that’s not possible, use a proactive phrase instead, like “Let me get back to you on that” or “I’ll get that information for you.”

Do these phrases tell the person that you don’t know?

Yes, they definitely do, but they give off a more professional feel, and your clients will certainly feel more confident in you if you tell them you’re actively going to get them quality answers.

Just make sure that you do!

8) “Kind of / Sort of”

Here’s another example of little phrases that are perfectly fine to use in everyday speech but that you probably want to avoid in a professional setting.

Why?

Because they’re hedging phrases.

When you use them, you immediately seem less confident in what you’re saying because you’re minimizing the power of your assertion.

“That’s a good idea” sounds a lot more confident than “That’s kind of a good idea,” right?

Of course, you may still have to use words to show limited quality or quantity, but choosing “Our numbers are up slightly compared to last month” will sound better than “We’re sort of doing better.”

9) “Is that OK?”

Does this phrase sound confident and professional to you?

Me neither.

This is such a meek and mild way to ask for permission or confirmation that it’s not going to impress anyone you work with.

On the contrary, it’s just going to make you sound like you don’t have any confidence in yourself.

Instead, if you need permission, you ask for it directly by saying something like, “Do I have your permission to do that?”

If you need confirmation, try “Let me know if we should proceed.”

10) $#*%!

Last but certainly not least, cut profanity out of your vocabulary in the workplace.

Cursing is sometimes appropriate, like when you step on a poorly placed Lego block in bare feet.

But in a professional setting, all it does is make you seem either vulgar or out of control of your emotions.

Neither is the image you want to present.

Conclusion

These ten little phrases to eliminate from your vocabulary to sound more professional are completely replaceable.

It may take some time and effort to break your habits and stop saying them. However, you’ll quickly find that it’s worth it, as your professional communications will start to flow a lot more smoothly.