Discomfort in asking is short and sharply felt, while the benefit is spread out and easy to overlook, so the arithmetic feels wrong in the moment. Three seconds of exposure buys a correction that applies to every week after it. Most of what makes people hesitate is an audience that is, in reality, thinking about something else.

Count to three and ask the question you would normally take home. Do it once and see how the rest of the hour changes when the confusion is gone.