Humble Modifiers

🧠 Free Recall ❓ Quiz 🔍 Cues 🔮 Simulation 🥷 ShadowBox 📐 Encode Cards

When sharing an observation or opinion
"I might be reading this wrong, but..."
"I'm not sure I have this right, but..."
"This might be off base, but..."
"I'm thinking out loud here, but..."
"I don't have the full picture, but..."

When naming something unspoken 
"I could be projecting, but..."
"Tell me if I'm overstepping, but..." 
"This might not be my place, but..." 
"I'm not sure if this is fair to say, but..." 
"I don't know if anyone's said this yet, but..."

When pushing back or disagreeing 
"I want to be honest even if I'm wrong..."
"I'm going to say something that might not land well..."
"I'd rather be wrong about this than not say it..."
"This might be an unpopular read, but..." 
"I keep going back and forth on this, but..."

When checking in on someone 1
"I might be imagining this, but..."
"You don't have to answer this, but..." 
"I noticed something and I'm not sure what to do with it..." 
"This might be a weird thing to ask, but..." 
"I don't know if you want to talk about this, but..."

When admitting uncertainty or struggle 
"I'll be honest, I'm still figuring this out..."  
"I don't have a clean answer for this..." 
"This is hard for me to articulate, but..." 
"I've been sitting with this and I'm not settled..." 
"I want to be real with you even though I don't have it all sorted..."

COLD OUTREACH

Acknowledging the cold approach itself
"I know this is out of the blue, but..."
"We haven't met, but I wanted to reach out because..."
"I realize I'm a stranger in your inbox, but..."
"This might be an unusual message to receive, but..."
"I debated whether to send this, but..."

Showing you've done your homework without being sycophantic 6. 
"I came across your work on ___ and it stuck with me..." 
"I don't want to assume I understand your world, but from what I've seen..." 
"I might be reading too much into this, but it seems like you're dealing with..." 
"I've been following ___ and something clicked that I wanted to share..." 
"I noticed ___ and I could be wrong about what's behind it, but..."

Lowering the stakes 
"I'm not sure if this is relevant to you, but..." 
"This might not be the right time, but..." 
"Feel free to ignore this entirely, but..."
"No expectations at all, but..." 
"Even if nothing comes of this, I wanted to say..."

Leading with what you don't know 16. 
"I don't know enough about your situation to be sure, but..." 
"I might be solving a problem you don't have, but..." 
"I don't know if this is something you're even thinking about, but..." 
"I could be completely off on this, but it seemed like..." 
"I'm making some assumptions here, so correct me if I'm wrong..."

Creating genuine human connection 21. 
"I'll be honest about why I'm reaching out..." 
"I'd rather be upfront than pitch you..." 
"I'm not going to pretend this isn't a cold email, but here's why I sent it..." 
"The real reason I'm writing is..." 
"I want to respect your time so I'll just say it..."

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Dunk (exclude from study)

Humble Modifiers

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Sensemaker