Rehearse the hard conversation out loud first. Your first try shouldn’t be the real one.

A first attempt at saying something difficult is always clumsy, which is why it is worth spending that attempt where nobody is listening. Out loud matters, because a sentence that seems clear in your head often falls apart in your mouth, and you only find the vague part by hearing it. Rehearsing is not scripting. It is working out what you actually want to say before it counts.

Say the opening line to an empty room or a patient friend. Telling a coach you cannot make Saturday, asking a teacher for more time, telling a friend they hurt you. Then go and have it.