In one conversation, someone was worried about using “like” too much and sounding unprofessional. We had only been discussing it for a few minutes. My response was that, right then, I wouldn't change it.
I wanted to reframe how the person was thinking about it. I said there were a lot of directions we could take, but this was how I would think about it for myself. They could decide whether it felt appropriate to them too.
The thought I suggested
“Who cares that I say this word a lot,” was the way I began it. Then: “It helps my speech.” I was offering a different way to think about the word in the conversation we were having.
At that moment, I thought it was working for the person. I was concerned with confidence. I didn't want to turn something they were using to speak into one more reason to feel bad about themselves.
That was my response to that person in those few minutes. Hearing what someone means by their question matters to me. Here, the question led to how they felt about their speech as well as the word they kept using.