Taking a new step, uttering a new word, is what people fear most.

Novelty frightens people in a way the size of the step does not explain. Saying an unfamiliar sentence aloud, or making a first move in a new direction, exposes you before anyone has agreed to it, and the exposure is what the fear is really about rather than the risk. Most people are not avoiding difficulty. They are avoiding being seen in the moment of not yet being good.

Name the sentence you have been rehearsing and not saying. Try it on one safe person first, then on the person who needs to hear it. The first utterance is the expensive one and everything after costs less.