How to use it
"They should know" sets you up to be hurt: they can't read your mind, and your tone is less clear than you think. Swap "they should" for "could you?": ask for exactly what you need, out loud.
How sure we are
P Evidence: promising. Good studies, but small or few. Use it and keep checking.
E Evidence: built from practice. What works for coaches and practitioners. Labelled that way.
Sources
People overestimated how well their tone (sarcastic, funny, serious) came across over email (Kruger, Epley et al. 2005, 5 experiments, 🟡) · "stop thinking they should, start asking if they could": Mel Robbins (🟠).
Not medical, legal or financial advice.