From A Weak to Confident Communicator - 30 Day Challenge

"I understand you are angry but I did not mean ..."
How does the above statement sound? Doesn't it feel the first part was useless?
Using a but negates the previous part of the sentence completely. It makes compliments sound fake. When you hear a but, you know that a negative statement will follow.
Instead, if the above sentence was modified to, "I understand you are angry and I did not mean .." Just one word makes the sentence more empathetic and thoughtful.
Today, you must use "and" instead of "but" in at least one sentence.