Hey there, I'm Ronnie. The other day, I went into a store, and I needed to buy something.
It was something that I had no idea about, so I had to buy something for my computer. I'm in
a computer store, and I said, "Excuse me, I need to buy this for my computer. Can you please help
me?" And the guy said, "Nah, I don't know." So, I waited for him to say something like,
"But I can help you", or, "I can check" or, "Let me Google that" or something! Not just,
"I don't know". So, the customer satisfaction with me at that store was nill, and I marched
out the door. What kind of customer service is this, where you walk into a store and
need help and they go, "I don't know." Hm? This also happens to me. People, students ask me,
"Ronnie, why do we say Thursday - Thur, like thur, but for example, the word thirsty is thir,
but it's a u sound?" I go, "I don't know". I have no idea. This is an amazing question and you know
what? People ask me amazing questions all the time about English, about grammar. And instead
of me saying, "I don't know", I actually do something about it and I look it up, or I get the
information, or I text my friend and go, "Excuse me, why?" "I don't know". Oh, thanks, friend.
So, my point is, if you don't know something, that's okay. Because we don't know everything. So,
if you're a teacher or if you are anyone and someone asks you a question, and you don't know
the answer, hey, just admit it. Don't lie to people. Don't make up bullsh*t to tell people,
because in the end, you're just harming your reputation. If you honestly don't know something,
that's alright. But communicate it to the people, and more importantly, tell them,
"I'm going to do something to help you. I'm going to help you figure it out." So,
if I had gone into the computer shop and I said, "Oh, I need this piece for my computer" and again,
the person says, "Oh, I don't know, but let's Google it." I'd be like "Yes sir, okay! Let's get
this computer started!" Instead, I walked away. So, what you have to do - of course, you can
tell the person, "Hey, do you know what? I don't know, but let's find a solution to the problem."
If you're working and somebody asks you a question that you don't know the answer to,
you don't want to sound stupid. You don't want to go "Oh, I don't know". Or,
if your boss asks you something that they think you should know, you panic and go "Oh my God,
I don't know the answer. I'm stupid. What should I do?" Okay, relax. Just don't say,
"I don't know!" and do nothing. You can say to the person, "Do you know what? I don't know" or
when we say it very quickly, we say, "I dunno, but let's Google it." Now, in this sentence,
"google" is actually a verb. Isn't that amazing? Our language changes. So, Google,
you know, is a website, a browser, but it's actually changed now into a verb. So, I can say,
"You know what? I don't know, but I'm going to Google it for you and find the answer."
You can say, "Let me find out", or "Let me look into that'. And then you say "look into?" It just
means find the answer. This is a really beautiful sentence, too. "Before I can answer that,
let me see" or "let me think". Maybe you know the answer, but it's just going to
take you an extra minute or two to translate or to think of your answer. You can also say,
"Let me see, let me see, oh, Pam. I've got the answer." Or, I've had enough time to translate
what you need to say to your scary boss. This is fun, too. You know what, if I knew,
yeah? I would or I could tell you. But I don't know. So, instead of just saying "I don't know",
you can use these and sound more professional at your job or in a business meeting. If someone
asks you a crazy question, instead of looking stupid or appearing ignorant, you can say these
beautiful English phrases. "I would be happy to find that answer and get back to you. What's
your email? Let me research it for you." This is always a good one, too. I love this. If
somebody asks you a question and you need time to think about it or you just don't know the answer,
you can tell them like, "Hey, that's a good question." Ahem, I don't know the answer,
but that's a very good question! Again, I will find out for you. Here's complete honesty:
Honestly, I have no idea. But I will ask someone. Mom, why is the "th" in this? You
don't know, okay. Thanks, Mom, great, okay. So, if you just say to the person, "I don't know",
or "Oh, I don't know the answer", you're not going to really help the person. And you might appear to
be a little bit stupid or ignorant towards your boss or to other people. So, it's okay. Admit
you don't know the answer and hey, grab your phone. It's probably already there, and Google
the answer. Get the information. But again, be careful of the internet. Because a lot of things
aren't true. But at least you tried. And try to help people. It's the best thing we can do.
Alright, I gotta Google this. I'll be right back.