“I raised it directly with…”

When to use it

Conflict stories. Shows you went to the person, not around them.

What it replaces

"I told my colleagues about the problem."

The hedged version is not wrong English. It is English that asks the interviewer to do the work of deciding whether you meant it. The confident version makes the decision for them.

In an answer

“I raised it directly with the site engineer the same afternoon, with the drawings in front of us.”

How to make it automatic

1. Say it aloud five times now, at normal speed, with contractions.
2. Pick one story from your own work where it fits, and say that story once using it.
3. Record a 60-second answer tomorrow and listen for whether it came out on its own.