How to build trust by saying “I don’t know”

People who say "I don't know" out loud get rated as more credible, not less — admitting the gap is what makes the rest believable

Someone asks a question in a meeting. You don’t know the answer. And instead of saying so, you watch yourself do something else: rephrase the question, offer a tangent that’s close enough, say that’s a great question while your brain scrambles to assemble something that sounds like knowledge. Or you’re at dinner, and a friend brings up a subject you haven’t read about, and instead of saying so you steer toward the part of the subject you can tal…

How to build trust by saying “I don’t know”

I’m 17, ankle-deep in a muddy pitch, and screaming at the referee. I should note that he is a fully grown adult and technically outranks me. This cotton-headed ninny muggins has waved play on when I’m certain — certain — it was a foul, a hacking, and this incompetent fool is allowing murder in broad daylight. I won’t stand for it. I’m giving him the full benefit of my opinion on his eyesight, his understanding of the rules, how his dog does not …