Most people are afraid of looking stupid in front of somebody else.

Actually, asking a powerful question in the face of not knowing an answer, is often

very helpful to the rest of the group. It's often not annoying to others in the way that you knowing an answer is often very helpful to the rest of the group.

It's often not annoying to others in the way that you might think it is.

That's Kate Mason.

She's a communications expert who coaches executives on actionable skills to become the leaders they wish to be by teaching them how to amplify their voice, reach, and impact at work.

Her new book, Powerfully Likeable, A Woman's Guide to Effective Communication,

it's also handy for men, shows that being influential and well-liked is not an either-or proposition.

So you'll learn one, the common phrases that undermine your influence.

Two, how to ask questions while boosting your credibility.

And three, how to overcome the fear of saying no.

And if you want a quick summary, write-up of the

actionable takeaways that Kate shared, I recommend you sign up for the free Gold Nugget

email newsletter found at awesome at your job.com. I'm Pete McItis. This is how to be awesome

at your job. And now, here's Kate. Kate, welcome. Thanks so much for having me, Pete.

I'm excited to be chatting, and I want to hear first and foremost about you being a world champion debater.

What's the world champion of debate looks out and feel like?

Well, it's a nerd convention that I went to when I was in high school and I continued debating in

university and it's basically the best people in the world come together and debate together.

It's brilliant.

That's cool.

And so I'm thinking back in high school, I did some speech individual events and I thought it was a ton of fun. But world sounds so

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