Your tone of voice is a second message. Make sure it agrees with the first one.

People hear two things at once: the words, and how the words were delivered. When those disagree, the tone wins every time, which is why a technically fine sentence can start an argument. Most of the time the mismatch is not deliberate, it is tiredness or irritation about something else leaking into a sentence that did not deserve it.

Listen for the gap this week, especially at home and at work when you are worn out. If someone reacts to how you said something, they are not inventing it. A short sentence about what is actually going on costs less than the argument that follows otherwise.