To make a great impression at work, avoid saying these three phrases. Number one, thanks so much for your time. Thanks so much for your time. Instead, I want you to say, great to meet you. Great to meet you. Why is that? Well, thanks so much for your time. Is typically overused by people that are lower rank than the other person that they’re meeting. It exacerbates the power dynamic between two people. It implies that you are borrowing their time, but instead, when you say great to meet you, you’re evening the playing field. They see you as someone that, yeah, might be asking for advice, but more importantly, is there to offer real value. Has a valuable perspective that is worth them hearing. So eliminate that first phrase. The second one I want you to eliminate is by jumping in and just assuming you know how to say their name. Like hi ex name or hi Ian. Instead, I want you to say, before we begin, how do you pronounce your name? So I like to ask this question, particularly in virtual meetings when you might see their name show up by their face and you might assume you know how to say it, but you’re not 100% sure. When I get them to tell me how to say their name, I then repeat their name three times during the conversation so that it sticks in my memory. I’ll also write down phonetically how I pronounce their Name in notes. Because whenever I meet them again, I can reference that so that I remember. For example, it may not be I N. It might be I N. In which case you better ask them up front. They appreciate that when you ask. Third thing to avoid saying is, let me tell you about X. Let me tell you about X. For example, let me tell you about how great our company is. Let me tell you about the new product that we released. Instead, what I’d like to ask is, how much do you know about blank? How much do you know about X or Y? Once you’ve gotten their permission to explain something, they’ll be much more engaged in what you have to say. Give these a try and let me know what you think.