The smallest pronoun can decide who feels included in a sentence.

GRATITUDE

WHAT THIS MEANS

A single small word decides whether a listener is inside or outside the sentence. We, they, you, one. Nobody consciously registers it, and everybody feels it, which is why a change of pronoun can shift the whole atmosphere of a message without altering a single fact in it.

Read back something you wrote for a group and look only at the pronouns. Ask who is included, who is being talked about, and whether that matches what you intended. It is a very small edit with a disproportionate effect on whether people feel addressed or discussed.

A QUESTION TO SIT WITH

When did a single pronoun leave you outside a sentence?

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