You’ve been talking with someone for a few minutes. They’re interested in what the nonprofit you represent stands for. Then they ask a detailed question about how their contribution supports the organization’s work, and you realize you’re not completely sure of the answer.
Many people encounter this when they’re new to a role.
You want to be helpful. You want to appear knowledgeable. And when someone is waiting for an answer, admitting you don’t have it can feel uncomfortable at first.
But there’s an important difference between confidence and pretending to know something you don’t.
At Lionsgate, Brand Ambassadors represent nonprofit organizations through face-to-face conversations across the US. That makes accurate communication particularly important. If you don’t know an answer, saying so and finding the correct information can be much more valuable than trying to fill the gap.
Here’s why.
Why Guessing Can Be Tempting
Guessing is a very human response.
When you’re representing an organization, and someone asks you a question, you naturally want to answer. Saying “I’m not sure” can feel like admitting you’re unprepared, particularly during your first few weeks when you’re still learning.
The circumstances can add pressure too.
Face-to-face conversations happen in real time. You don’t always have an immediate chance to stop, research something, and return with the perfect response.
That can make a confident guess feel easier.
The problem is that an answer doesn’t become accurate simply because it sounds confident.
If you provide information that later turns out to be incorrect, you may have created confusion that you could have avoided by acknowledging you needed to check.
That’s particularly important when you’re communicating on behalf of another organization.
Sometimes the most professional answer available is: “I don’t want to give you the wrong information, so let me check that.”
What Honesty Communicates
You don’t need to have every answer immediately to communicate professionally.
Sometimes professionalism means knowing the limits of your knowledge.
If a Brand Ambassador says, “That’s a good question. I don’t want to guess, so let me find out for you,” they’re being clear about what they know and what they still need to confirm.
No long apology or attempt to hide the gap.
The aim isn’t to make uncertainty sound impressive. It’s simply to make accuracy more important than appearing to know everything.
As Lionsgate CEO Pally Rae puts it: “Trust is built in the moments when you’re honest about what you know and what you still need to check. People remember when you take the time to give them the right information.”
For a new starter, that’s useful to remember.
Learning a role doesn’t mean memorizing every possible answer before you’re allowed to have a conversation. It means understanding the information you’re responsible for, continuing to learn, and knowing what to do when a question goes beyond what you currently know.
Why It Matters When You Represent a Nonprofit
When you’re speaking on behalf of a nonprofit, the information you provide isn’t only associated with you.
You’re representing another organization.
Someone may have questions about its work, programs, how contributions are used, or other details that are important to their decision. Those questions deserve accurate answers.
If you’re unsure, guessing doesn’t help the person asking.
It also creates the possibility that incorrect information becomes associated with the organization you’re representing.
That’s why knowing when to check something is an important professional skill.
The same principle applies in plenty of other careers. If you’re communicating information on behalf of a client, employer, or organization, accuracy matters.
You don’t need to know everything.
You do need to recognize when something needs confirming.
How to Say “I Don’t Know” Professionally
There is a difference between dismissing a question and acknowledging that you need to check something.
“I have no idea” doesn’t give the other person anywhere to go.
“I don’t know the exact answer to that, but I can find out” does.
A useful response can be simple:
- Acknowledge the question. Let the person know you’ve understood what they’re asking.
- Be clear about what you don’t know. Don’t guess or try to disguise uncertainty with a long answer.
- Explain how you’ll check. Use the appropriate source or speak with the person responsible for confirming the information.
- Follow through. If you’ve said you’ll provide an answer, make sure you use the correct company process to do so.
That might sound as simple as:
“That’s a good question. I don’t want to give you inaccurate information, so I’d rather check that and make sure I give you the correct answer.”
There’s no complicated technique involved.
You’re simply choosing accuracy over assumption.
And if you say you’re going to check something, following through matters. Reliability is part of the same lesson as honesty.
Honesty Isn’t the Same as Hesitation
There’s an important balance here.
The aim isn’t to respond to every question with uncertainty.
Part of learning any role is developing a strong understanding of the information you regularly need. The more familiar you become with the organizations you represent, the more confidently you can explain what you know.
But confidence doesn’t require pretending there are no gaps.
Someone can be knowledgeable about their role and still encounter a question they’ve never heard before. An organization may update information. Someone might ask about a detail that isn’t normally part of the conversation.
Those situations don’t undo everything you know.
They give you something else to learn.
For a new starter at Lionsgate, preparation, asking questions, and learning from experienced colleagues can gradually make unfamiliar questions less common. When something new does come up, knowing where to find an accurate answer becomes another part of doing the job well.
Habits That Help You Keep Learning
A few simple habits can make unfamiliar questions increasingly useful.
Notice recurring questions. If people regularly ask about the same subject, that’s useful information. Make sure you understand the approved answer and know where to find the relevant information.
Record follow-ups appropriately. If you’ve promised to find something out, use the company’s approved process for making sure that follow-up isn’t forgotten.
Ask questions while they’re fresh. When something unfamiliar comes up, speak to the appropriate Team Leader or colleague so you understand it properly.
Share useful learning. If one person encounters a question others may also hear, discussing the correct answer can help the wider team.
Use approved information. When you’re representing another organization, rely on the resources and information you’ve been given, not assumptions or something you vaguely remember hearing.
Over time, those habits build knowledge.
More importantly, they help make sure the knowledge you’re using is accurate.
A Skill That Goes With You
Knowing when to say “I don’t know yet” isn’t only useful at Lionsgate.
It’s a professional skill.
Managers need people who raise questions when something isn’t clear. Teams benefit when someone identifies a gap instead of quietly making an assumption. Clients and customers need accurate information, not confident guesses.
Being comfortable asking questions can also speed up learning.
Instead of spending energy trying to hide what you don’t know, you can concentrate on finding the answer and remembering it for next time.
For someone at the beginning of their career, that can be particularly valuable.
New graduates and first-time professionals can sometimes feel pressure to prove that they’re capable immediately. But being capable doesn’t mean knowing everything on your first day.
It means being willing to learn.
A people-facing role can give you regular opportunities to practice that: listening carefully, recognizing when you need more information, asking the right person, and becoming increasingly knowledgeable through experience.
Those habits can stay useful wherever your career takes you.
Interested in Joining Lionsgate?
You don’t need to arrive at Lionsgate with all the answers.
Starting something new means there will naturally be things to learn, questions to ask, and situations you haven’t encountered before.
What matters is how you respond.
If you’re curious about a role where communication, learning, and working with different people are part of the experience, explore opportunities with Lionsgate and learn what the Brand Ambassador role involves day-to-day.
Bring your questions.
Being willing to ask them is part of learning something new.
