It feels risky. But the alternative — performing, hedging, saying what you think they want to hear — costs more in every direction.
There's a quality to honest conversation that's unmistakable. When you drop the performance, the other person almost always relaxes too.
Being honest early means people who stay are staying for who you actually are. That's the only foundation worth building on.
Every small performance requires upkeep. Honesty costs one act of courage — and then you're free.
The most sophisticated strategy in any conversation is also the simplest: just say the real thing.