I have paid for enough shitty books on how to communicate effectively that I’ll save your money because this one tip is all you need. Plus it’s free. Make sure you test this out and report back on this post when talking to superiors. Ok?

The combination of o and k is about as simple as it gets. No one knows what it stands for (there’s a shitty backstory about the OK club) so it carries its own mystery. What I can tell you about ok is that it’s a let me think / understanding word.

When I’m talking to a business associate and they tell me an idea that is going to take more than a few sentences, I’ll close off one of the sentences with an OK. Real subtle. This OK is telling them that I’m following along, but I’m neither agreeing or disagreeing with what they are saying. Now, if the other side is familiar with the OK, they can repeat the OK right back at you and now there’s so much understanding that a light bulb explodes every time it happens as such.

The key behind the power of OK is you are conveying understanding even if you aren’t. When someone explains a new process to you and you say “I understand”, you better pray to god there are no follow ups. If you say “ok”, no one has any indication whether you understand any of what was discussed. It’s agreeable without any negative connotation.

Next time you’re in a discussion, see how many times you can say OK at the end of their sentences while the other person is telling you something. Usually they keep on talking because you’re such a good listener and you can keep rattling off ok’s until you start to get the feeling they are catching on. I’ll sometimes use “alright” but that’s not as advanced as “ok”. You are giving away too much with an “alright”.