The Gravitas Meter

Discover how your word choice and delivery impacts others. Score any transcript, audio, or short video clip of you in action, then get specific, no-soft-pedal feedback. Avoid going into the word jail, skip the hedging and get straight to your point.

Score yourself

Paste a call transcript or email below, or upload a voice file or record 60-90 seconds of yourself (you can try answering one of these hard questions). Gravitas Meter then analyzes your speech in real time, catching fillers, hedges, uptalk-coded language, approval-seeking, and identifying weak postures or authority gaps. Wait 60-90 seconds, then scroll down to see your score and get specific advice on how to improve.

Transcript (meeting, call, talk, sales pitch)

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Pick One Question To Answer

Choose any question and answer it out loud. The Meter will score your response.

Your CEO has been invited to attend a private, off the record/no press event for corporate leaders at the White House. It's likely to leak. Companies that don't send a representative may face retaliation. In addition, CEOs will be asked to contribute to one of the new infrastructure projects (e.g. the ballroom). What's your advice?
You lead comms for a NASDAQ-traded company. Your CEO calls you at home on a weekend: she's leaving the company, and she's already leaked the news to a Bloomberg reporter that she has resigned. A minute later, a board director calls on the other line. Your CEO is not resigning but being forced out, and they need a statement tonight naming an interim CEO. Your CEO is on the other line still. What do you do?
Your CMO presents an ad campaign. Half the C-Suite — including the board chairman and General Counsel — hate it. The CEO loves it. They ask what you think. What do you say?
Your annual and ESG reports were produced with AI assistance under resource cuts. A Substacker runs them through AI detection software and declares them "AI created." What do you do?
A reporter is waiting outside your building. She's running a story tonight that your company has known about gender pay disparities for two years and done nothing. You have no prepared statement. What do you say — right now?

Customize this app

Add any particular words, jargon, phrases or tendencies you want to avoid to this *Word Jail and weak posture examples. Edit them to match your own company, industry or your own coaching rules. The meter will score against whatever you write here.

Changes are saved in this browser only — no account, nothing shared.

*thank you to Leah Neaderthal, Founder of Smart Gets Paid, for the Word Jail concept that is powering this app.

Edit the Word Jail & Lame Postures (click to expand and edit)

Word Jail

# Word Jail (Jeanne Meyer · Executive Presence)

Every word and phrase that signals deference, uncertainty, or a lack of authority — with the reason it costs you.

## Apology Openers
Phrases that pre-load your statement with unnecessary confession or false transparency.
- "to be honest" / "if I'm honest" / "candidly" — Implies you aren't always honest.
- "I'm sorry, but…" — Apologizes for having a point of view.
- "I hate to say this…" / "I don't want to be that person, but…" — Pre-loads guilt.
- "Can I be real with you?" — Theatrical sincerity. Just say the thing.

## Filler & Hedge Words
Words that bleed authority and dilute the line.
- "just" — Shrinks the request. ("I just wanted to check in…")
- "kind of" / "sort of" / "a little bit" — Softens conviction to vapor.
- "I think" / "I feel like" / "I guess" / "I believe" — Tentative on points you actually know.
- "maybe" / "possibly" / "perhaps" (when stating a fact) — Hedge on certainty.
- "you know" / "right?" / "does that make sense?" — Begging for validation.
- "like" (as filler) — Erodes precision.
- "basically" / "literally" / "honestly" / "actually" — Verbal throat-clearing.
- "um" / "uh" / "so…" (as opener) — Filler that signals you haven't formed the sentence.

## Permission-Seeking
Asking permission you don't need.
- "Can I ask a question?" — Just ask it.
- "Would it be okay if…" / "Is it alright if…" — Subordinate framing.
- "Sorry to interrupt, but…" — Apologizing for having something to say.
- "I don't know if this is right, but…" — Pre-discounting your own input.

## Self-Diminishing
Lines that volunteer that you are less than you are.
- "This might be a dumb question…" / "This is probably nothing…" — Trains the room to discount you.
- "I'm not an expert, but…" — Then why are you talking? (You ARE the expert. Say it.)
- "I could be wrong…" — Add it only if it's load-bearing, not as default.
- "Does that make sense?" / "Am I making sense?" — Pushes evaluation onto the listener.
- "I'm probably overthinking this…" — Discredits your own analysis pre-emptively.
- "Sorry, I'm rambling…" — Don't ramble. If you did, don't narrate it.

## Deference / Status-Lowering
Phrases that put the other person above you in the hierarchy.
- "I would love your thoughts…" — Fine occasionally; corrosive as a tic.
- "If you have time…" — Pre-loaded apology for asking.
- "When you get a chance…" — Same.
- "I really appreciate you taking the time…" (as opener) — Over-thanking before the ask.
- "I hope this isn't too much to ask…" — Subordinate.
- "Please let me know if there's anything else you need from me." — Ends every email on your knees.

## Lazy Openers
Openers that signal you haven't done your homework.
- "What do you do for a living?" — Signals you haven't researched the person.
- "So, tell me about yourself." — Lazy in a setting where you should have prepared.
- "Remind me again…" (about something you should know) — Outsources your prep.
- "I haven't had a chance to look at it yet, but…" — Don't lead with what you didn't do.

## Qualifier Stacks
Stacking softeners until the sentence collapses.
- "I think maybe we could possibly consider…" — Four hedges, zero claim.
- "It's just kind of like a small thing, but…" — Pre-shrunk before delivery.

## The Rule
If you wouldn't write it in a statement to the board, don't say it in a room.
Cut it entirely or restate with a flat declarative. Silence is always better than a filler. The pause is not awkward — the qualifier is.

Lame Postures

# Lame Postures (verbal/behavioral patterns to flag)

- **Uptalk** — ending declarative sentences with rising intonation, turning statements into questions.
- **Vocal fry** at the end of every sentence — signals fatigue and disengagement.
- **Trailing off** — "...and yeah, so, anyway." Land the plane.
- **Over-explaining / justifying** before you've been asked.
- **Filibustering** — talking past the answer because silence feels unsafe.
- **Restating the question back** to buy time on every answer.
- **Mirroring the questioner's energy down** — they speak quietly, you go quieter.
- **Self-deprecating jokes** as a reflex before substantive points.
- **Pre-apologizing for length** ("This will be quick, I promise…") then going long.
- **Asking permission to disagree** instead of disagreeing.
- **Constant "we" when "I" is the truth**, or constant "I" when "we" is the truth.
- **Citing seniority of others** as the reason for your own view.
- **Compliment-sandwiching** every piece of feedback.
- **Reading the room as needing reassurance** when it needs a decision.

Personal review

Get more feedback on your presentation style.

Pick one of these challenge questions, record a selfie video answering it, and share the link for a confidential, personal review with actionable feedback.

Limit your answer to 60–90 seconds. No more. The constraint is intentional — it forces directness and shows how you perform under pressure.

Pick one question to answer

Your CEO has been invited to attend a private, off the record/no press event for corporate leaders at the White House. It's likely to leak. Companies that don't send a representative may face retaliation. In addition, CEOs will be asked to contribute to one of the new infrastructure projects (e.g. the ballroom). What's your advice?You lead comms for a NASDAQ-traded company. Your CEO calls you at home on a weekend: she's leaving the company, and she's already leaked the news to a Bloomberg reporter that she has resigned. A minute later, a board director calls on the other line. Your CEO is not resigning but being forced out, and they need a statement tonight naming an interim CEO. Your CEO is on the other line still. What do you do?Your CMO presents an ad campaign. Half the C-Suite — including the board chairman and General Counsel — hate it. The CEO loves it. They ask what you think. What do you say?Your annual and ESG reports were produced with AI assistance under resource cuts. A Substacker runs them through AI detection software and declares them "AI created." What do you do?A reporter is waiting outside your building. She's running a story tonight that your company has known about gender pay disparities for two years and done nothing. You have no prepared statement. What do you say — right now?

How to share your video

Loom (free)

Go to loom.com → record in browser or phone app → copy the share link.

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📱 iPhone: Camera app → upload to Google Drive, or use Loom mobile app. | Android: Camera app → Google Drive, or Loom mobile app.

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60–90 seconds. Run this while you record so you stay in range.

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