Raelle, a communication coach, suggests replacing casual apologies with thank you statements. Instead of "sorry this is taking so long," try "thanks for your patience." Real apologies still matter for actual mistakes.
We are saying sorry less in 2026, okay? And I'm going to give you some examples for how to do it. You might know what I'm going to say because I've shared this tip before, but replace that sorry with a thank you whenever you can. So instead of sorry, this is taking so long, you can say thanks for your patience. Instead of sorry to bother you, you can say, thanks so much for your help. Instead of sorry for the confusion, you can say thank you for clarifying. Even if it's not a direct statement replacement, you can still do this. For example, a very common one is to say sorry, sorry to interrupt. Instead of that, you could say, can I interject? Or I need to interject thanks. And then say what you need to say. If you actually need to apologize for something, by all means, use the word sorry or say I apologize. But if you're using sorry as a segue word or as an opener or closer to one of your statements, try this alternative and start moving away from that because it is not serving you. I'm well with Raelle, your communication coach. Try this and let me know how it goes.
